Dead Space: Playing the Game 2
by EcoSeeker247
Summary: Sequel to Playing the Game. After clearing the first Dead Space, Isaac Clarke doesn't think he can handle anymore games about himself...until Challus Mercer brings him a little gift one day: Dead Space 2! Rated T for mild suggestive humor and language.
1. Chapter One: Previously on Dead Space

Well, here it is! The sequel to _Dead Space: Playing the Game. _I know this is very fast, but I had started typing this chapter before I finished the first story, and since it was completed, I figured why not just put it up now. People have been asking about this one for a while, so here it is! :) The format will be the same from before, except with the obvious addition of new characters. If you haven't already, I suggest you go back and read the first "Playing the Game", because some of the references won't make sense unless you've read that one. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this sequel, and once again, praise and/or constructive criticism are welcome!

**NOTE: **This is not meant to offend, nor is it poking fun at the tragic elements of the game.

**WARNING: **There are _Dead Space 2 _and some _Dead Space 1 _spoilers throughout this story.

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

_Italics- _game dialogue (and just like the first story, "game" will be written in front of everyone's names to distinguish between the game and real life)

Wow, this is getting long now, so I'm going to stop here and let you start reading. Enjoy! :)

* * *

><p>If there was one thing Challus Mercer wasn't expecting, it was his afternoon mail.<p>

His day went normally, as usual: he meditated in front of a small replica of the Marker in the morning, went to the CEC, and then attended a Unitology meeting right after that. It was coming home that would be different.

The first thing Mercer noticed when he entered his small apartment was that his mailbox was slightly open due to the large amount of mail he apparently had. _What the hell? _He asked himself as he retrieved his mail for the day. There were the usual Unitology pamphlets and bills. That was no surprise. It was the thick package underneath the other items that caught him by surprise, especially when he noticed the return address.

_Visceral Studios, _he thought, _I never thought I'd hear from them again._ It had been almost a week since he had written to them, and he wondered what took so long. He immediately sat down, grabbed a letter opener, and opened the envelope, feeling eager over what he would find.

He would soon come to regret it.

Once he was finished opening the package, Mercer held up a neatly typed letter and read it a few times, taking in the response to his complaint list. At first, he couldn't believe it, but then, he realized everything was true when he retrieved the other part of the package.

"Oh…my…God," he petitioned under his breath.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The next day at the CEC office…<strong>_

"Isaac! Isaac!" a familiar voice called out to systems engineer Isaac Clarke, who was just looking away from his computer screen as he typed in some coordinates for a new ship the CEC was building.

"Hey, Kendra," Isaac greeted as computer specialist Kendra Daniels barreled into the room, "What's up?"

"Terrence is back!" she announced happily.

"He is?" Isaac replied, getting up from his seat.

"Yeah, he flew in about an hour ago!" Kendra said, "Come on! The others are there and waiting to welcome him!"

And with that, Isaac followed Kendra out of the room and went to wait in the main lobby of the CEC. Zach Hammond was already waiting, as well as Isaac's girlfriend, Nicole Brennan. "Hey guys," Isaac greeted, "Where's Mercer?"

"He's on his way," Hammond answered, and suddenly, the doors opened, revealing their other friend, Terrence Kyne.

"Terrence!" everyone shouted, running over to him, holding up "Welcome Home" signs and hugging him, "Welcome back!"

"Ahh, thank you," Kyne thanked everyone, "It's good to be back."

"How was the conference?" Nicole asked, "Tell us everything!"

"It was good," Kyne explained, "Very good. 'Finding Innovative Ways to Improve the World'. That's what it was all about. Some of the most renowned research scientists were there."

"Ooo," everyone replied in fascination.

"Sounds great!" Isaac commented. That was when he craned his neck and noticed somebody else standing behind Kyne: a man with black hair and blue eyes.

"There's someone else here?" he asked.

Kyne blinked and then widened his eyes. "Oh!" he gasped, "Yes, yes, I was getting to that. I met a friend there. He's also a research scientist like I am, and he'll be staying with me for a while. It's part of a program we're taking part in from the conference." As if on cue, the unfamiliar man stepped forward.

"My friends," Terrence continued, "This is Nolan Stross. One of the top scientists in the country."

_Nolan Stross, huh? _Isaac thought as he shook hands with Nolan Stross, who seemed friendly enough, if not a little shy. "And these are my friends, Zach Hammond, Kendra Daniels, Nicole Brennan, and Isaac Clarke," Kyne said to Stross in turn.

"Very nice to meet all of you," Stross piped up, shaking hands with everyone in turn.

"So, Nolan," Nicole began, "What kind of research do you do?"

"Mostly government research," Stross explained, "But I can't say too much on it, except there are a lot of steps that need to be taken."

_Probably some sort of energy research, _Isaac thought.

"Well, it's good to have you here," Kendra said to the scientist, "And Terrence is a good friend. We'll all make sure you feel welcome here."

"Thank you," Stross thanked her, "It'll be good to look around for a little bit."

Suddenly, the door flew open again, and Mercer ambled inside the building, looking distraught over something. "Challus!" Terrence cried to the other scientist, "You're finally here!"

"Welcome back, Terrence," Mercer replied, shaking hands with his friend.

"Oh, Challus, this is Nolan Stross," Kyne said, introducing Stross again. The two of them shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you," Stross said, glancing at his other hand, which was clamped around something, "What's that in your hand?"

Mercer perked up, as if he remembered why he had run half a mile from the parking lot to the office building. "You're not going to believe this," he puffed, "But look what EA sent me in the mail yesterday!" He held up a very familiar looking jewel case, and as soon as the others glanced at it, they felt surprise and dread creep through their veins.

"Oh…my…God," Isaac replied, "You can't be serious! _What?_" He snatched the case out of Mercer's hand and studied the front cover of _Dead Space 2_. At first, he wanted to believe that this was just a joke, but the longer he stared at the front cover, the more he realized this was all real.

"No!" Kendra and Hammond groaned, "There's _another _one? When did they make this?"

"Earlier this year, it seems," Isaac said, "I can't believe this. I just _can't _believe this!"

"Another one of what?" Stross asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.

"Another _Dead Space _game," Hammond answered as Isaac handed the game over to Stross.

"_Dead Space,_" he echoed, "Is that the game about the Necromorph outbreak on the _USG Ishimura? _With the Marker?"

"How did you know that?" Nicole asked in surprise.

"My wife, Alexis, saw ads for it and said she was never going to let our son play that game when he got older. We didn't know there was a second one, though. We don't even know the full story."

"You have a son?" Nicole asked, her face lighting up in happiness for a minute.

"Does _everyone _except for us know about _Dead Space_?" Kendra asked.

"I don't know everything about it," Stross assured her.

"You guys know what this means, right?" Isaac piped up. The others waited for his answer.

"Time for another party at my place!" he announced, "Do we want to risk everything and play _Dead Space 2 _now?"

The others looked hesitant at first. They remembered all too well what playing the first game had been like, and now there was a second one? "EA apologized and said they made corrections," Mercer explained, "I want to know what they meant by that."

"Then I guess I wouldn't mind sitting through another game," Hammond conceded, "Even though we're all dead except for Isaac."

"You're welcome to join us if you like," Isaac said, facing Stross, "Since you're staying with Kyne and all."

"Sure!" Stross replied, "I'd like to come by."

"If any of you guys have friends you want to invite over, you can," Isaac continued, nodding to the others.

"Will do," Kendra said, "So we'll all meet at Isaac's apartment later?"

"Looks like it," Hammond mused, "_Dead Space 2, _here we come!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Later on that day…<strong>_

"This is crazy," Isaac muttered to Nicole as the two of them opened _Dead Space 2 _and studied it, "Another game about us?"

"I wonder what corrections they made from the first one," the Senior Medical Officer wondered out loud.

_Ding dong! _"I'll get it," Isaac announced, leaving Nicole to finish setting up the Xbox 360 as he went to answer the door.

"Hey, Terrence," Isaac greeted, "Hey, Stross. Come in."

"You have a very nice apartment, Isaac," Stross complimented as he took his seat on the couch next to his friend.

"Thank you," Isaac thanked him, "We're just setting up. Help yourself to snacks and drinks."

The doorbell rang five minutes later as Stross and Kyne finished getting themselves situated. When Isaac went to answer it, he spotted Kendra and Hammond, as well as a man he had never seen before. The third man was slightly taller than he was and carried a serious air about himself.

"Hey, Isaac," Hammond greeted, "We're here. And Kendra brought a friend."

"He works in security," Kendra explained, "I told him we were having a party here and I invited him."

Isaac glanced up at the man and held his hand out. "I'm Isaac Clarke," he said.

"Hans Tiedemann," the man replied in a calm voice, gripping the engineer's hand, "Kendra told me all about you and your game. I don't know anything about it, so forgive me if I'm lost."

"It's okay," Isaac assured him, "Come in." Tiedemann nodded and followed his friends inside. It seemed like people from every single group imaginable were there: CEC, EarthGov, Unitology…it was mind boggling.

"We have another new guest," Kendra announced, "This is a friend of mine, Hans Tiedemann." The others quickly introduced themselves as Tiedemann opened a beer for himself and took a seat next to Kendra and Hammond.

"I've never seen a videogame about my friends before," Tiedemann commented, "Wasn't that strange the first time?"

"It was," Kendra said to him, "But after a while, you get used to it."

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang for a third time, and Mercer was on the other side, along with a woman dressed in blue.

"Hello," the Unitologist greeted, "I also brought a friend of mine."

"Daina Le Guin," the woman introduced herself before Mercer could get a chance to.

"Isaac Clarke," Isaac replied, "Nice to meet you, Daina."

"This should be interesting," Daina commented, "Looks like a lot of people are here already. I do hope this game is good."

"I heard it was," Kyne piped up from next to Stross, "EA said so."

Daina quickly introduced herself to everyone before taking a seat near Mercer, Kyne, and Stross.

"Wow, what a turnout," Isaac announced, "Is this everyone?"

"Almost," Nicole answered, "There's still one more person."

Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rang, and the engineer went to go answer it for the fourth time.

When Isaac opened the door, he came face to face with a woman he had never seen before. "Hello," he greeted politely, his facial expression changing as soon as he laid eyes on her.

"Hello," the woman echoed, "Is this Isaac Clarke's apartment?" She smirked at the bewildered look on the engineer's face. Isaac shook his head once he realized he had been subconsciously checking her out. _Damn it, Isaac, _he cursed to himself, _Don't do that. You don't even know her that well. _He hoped for a second that Nicole didn't notice anything.

"That's right," he confirmed, "I'm Isaac Clarke." From the look on the woman's face, he could only guess what she was thinking: _Nerd._

"Nicole invited me over for the party," she explained, "I'm Ellie Langford. Heavy equipment pilot for the CEC. Class Four."

"That's right!" Isaac repeated, "She did mention meeting you on a lunch break a few days ago. Come in. You're just in time." Ellie entered the apartment, and the engineer knew that this was finally everybody.

After Ellie introduced herself to everybody, she sat down next to Nicole, who didn't seem to take note of what had happened before. "So," Isaac began, "_Dead Space 2_. You guys ready for this?"

"I think so," Hammond piped up.

"Bring it on!" Kendra cried.

"What happened in the first one?" Daina asked, "I'm not familiar with this series at all."

"Me neither," Ellie agreed.

"Neither am I," Tiedemann added.

"I only know some parts," Stross admitted, "Not the whole thing."

"Looks like there's some sort of recap video," Isaac said as he finally made it to the main menu for _Dead Space 2_.

"Previously on _Dead Space,_" the engineer read.

"Let's watch it!" Stross suggested.

"Good idea," Kyne piped up, "So that we can all be caught up." Nodding, Isaac selected the recap video as Nicole shut off the lights yet again and took her place in between Isaac and Ellie.

The screen faded to black until a picture of a factory at sunset appeared. "Hey, that's you, Terrence!" Mercer pointed out as, sure enough, game-Kyne provided a voiceover.

"You're doing the voiceover?" Ellie asked in surprise.

"We were all in the first game," Kyne explained, "Let's try and hear it." Everyone quieted down immediately.

"_By the twenty-fifth century,_" game-Kyne narrated, "_Earth's resources were ravaged. Consumed. Exhausted._"

"I think we get it by now," Daina joked tentatively, and everyone chuckled quietly as the video continued.

"_Desperate and on the verge of extinction, we cast out into the void of space and discovered rich new worlds waiting to be cracked open, and stripped bare. All of Earth became devoted to this effort. The planet-crackers were built, the USG Ishimura the first and most famous. Planet cracking became routine. Its spoils kept us alive. _

_ "Eventually, greedy eyes fell upon Aegis 7, restricted for centuries for reasons unknown. Greed and corruption saw to the demise of caution. There, buried beneath the surface, an artifact, the Red Marker. Long lost, and long forgotten. The religion I had once called my own had found its holy grail, the key to human immortality._"

"This is crazy," Tiedemann whispered under his breath as screaming echoed in the video, showing flashbacks to game-Mercer murdering game-Temple.

"There you are, Mercer!" Kendra cried, "Remember that?"

"How could I forget?" Mercer growled as he touched his left eye, the one Jacob Temple had punched in their fight because of that very scene.

"_It did not bring salvation. It brought doom. The Marker bred insanity, murder, and chaos." _At this point, the head-banging man from chapter two made an appearance. Daina covered her mouth in horror while Stross, Tiedemann, and Ellie looked away. This was not what they were expecting at all.

"_It bred Necromorphs. Those who escaped from the planet fled to the safety of the orbiting Ishimura. The scourge released upon Aegis 7 came with them. Within hours, the Ishimura went dark. The corporation dispatched a small repair crew to check on its investments._"

"There you are!" Stross suddenly shouted as part of the original opening cutscene played, "You must've been surprised to see yourselves in the game."

"You better believe it," Hammond replied.

"_Among the crew was an engineer: Isaac Clarke. He had something special aboard the Ishimura. In the darkness, Isaac found death…and the Red Marker. It was not holy. It was not alien. It was manmade, and it could be used to stop the outbreak. Isaac also found Nicole. Dead by her own hand, she was an apparition of the Marker. Isaac engineered his escape, but everything else was destroyed. _

_ "Three years later, he wakes in a hospital on Titan Station, an EarthGov metropolis on Saturn's largest moon. Isaac has survived, but his mind is no longer sane. For the Marker changes all._" With that, the recap video ended, and Isaac took a deep breath as he returned to the main menu.

"So," he began, "What do you guys think?"

Stross, Ellie, Daina, and Tiedemann didn't answer, for their mouths were dropped open in horror after the video ended. The others couldn't help but laugh a little bit, as they had had the same reaction.

"It's okay," Nicole assured them, "We felt the same way the first time."

"Let's start the game now," Isaac suggested, and with that, he selected the Single Player campaign, as well as the Survivalist Difficulty.

"Oh, God," Mercer groaned once the opening cutscene got underway, "Here we go again." Daina patted his arm gently.

After the title screen reading "Dead Space 2" appeared, a blonde woman followed suit. "_Isaac, are you there?"_ she asked, "_Come in, Isaac._"

"_Nicole?_" Kendra gasped, "Is that you?"

"I think so," Nicole answered, "I look and sound different."

"Different voice actor, I guess?" Tiedemann guessed from next to Kendra and Hammond.

Another video log popped up, and game-Isaac appeared. He was lying in bed as he flipped onto his side and smiled. "Isaac!" Stross and Ellie shouted at the same time.

"Yep, it's me," Isaac announced proudly.

"_Oh, God, I'm so sorry,_" game-Nicole laughed, "_The time difference. I'll call you back later." _

"_No, no, no, it's okay," _game-Isaac assured her, much to the shock of all the old timers in the room.

"Well, I'll be damned," Isaac said out loud, "I actually _have a voice now! _I like this game already."

"You _can _speak!" Hammond cried next.

"You didn't talk in the first game?" Daina asked.

"Not a word," Isaac told her, "Except for screaming."

"The silent protagonist, huh?" Tiedemann joked.

"That's definitely what they were going for," Kendra said to him, and they all quieted down as the cutscene continued.

"_How're you doing?_" game-Isaac asked.

"_Good,_" game-Nicole answered happily, "_You were right, Isaac. The Ishimura is a great ship. I'm so lucky to be serving aboard her._"

"_Enjoy it while it lasts,_" game-Isaac said, "_They're gonna decommission her next year._"

"Aww, you spoiled the moment," Ellie teased, smirking as Isaac rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He was still loving the fact that the game producers finally let him speak.

"_Isaac,_" game-Nicole interrupted him, "_Thank you." _

_ "For what?" _

_ "For…just pushing me to do this. I mean, if it weren't for you, I never would have made it this far, 'cause you made me stick with it." _

Game-Isaac paused before replying, "_Just remember, I'm giving you up for six months so you can do this." _

_ "You know, we must be getting out of range. Isaac? Isaac can you hear me? I'll call you back as soon as I can. Isaac…_"

The camera zoomed out until it showed a man sitting at a desk. "_Isaac?_" he asked, "_ISAAC!_"

Everyone jumped in his or her seat. "Whoa, no need to shout," Stross commented from the back, "Sheesh."

"Who's that guy?" Tiedemann asked Kendra and Hammond.

"No clue," Hammond replied, "He wasn't in the first game."

"_You were drifting away for a moment there, Mr. Clarke," _the doctor, Edgar Foster, continued, "_I believe you were telling me about your nightmares that you've been having. About your dead girlfriend. What was her name?_"

Game-Isaac shook his head before whispering, "_Nicole._"

Suddenly, an image of game-Nicole appeared. "_I didn't want it to end like this,_" she choked, "_I really wanted to see you again. Just once. I loved you. I've always loved you._"

"Oh, yeah," Nicole mused as she remembered that video her character had made in the first game.

"_Yes,_" Foster continued, "_Nicole Brennan. She was a Senior Medical Officer stationed aboard a planet cracker-class vessel." _

_ "The Ishimura," _game-Isaac whispered.

"_The USG Ishimura. Yes. Part of a mining operation on Aegis 7. I understand communications went down shortly after their arrival. You were part of the repair mission. A mission you volunteered for, am I right?" _Game-Isaac nodded, and nobody in the room commented. All ten of them were so absorbed by the opening cutscene.

"_What did you find aboard that ship, Isaac?_"

Game-Isaac shook his head as he mumbled, "_I found something." _

_ "What did they find aboard the ship, Isaac?" _

_ "The Marker." _

_ "Did you have contact with this Marker? It made you see things, didn't it? Things you didn't want to see?" _At that moment, an image of the Marker appeared, as well as a bloody version of game-Nicole that was now climbing on top of the table.

"_It spoke to me,_" game-Isaac answered.

"_What did it say to you? What did it say to you, Isaac?" _

"Damn," Kendra cursed, "This is some crazy shit." The others nodded in agreement.

Lights illuminated from game-Nicole as she whispered, "_Make…us…whole!_"

"_Isaac?"_ Foster shouted, "_Isaac, can you hear me? Isaac!_" The scene changed until it showed a man shining a flashlight into game-Isaac's eyes.

"_Isaac!_" he cried, snapping his fingers, "_Isaac, can you hear me?_"

"Brother!" Daina suddenly cried out, "What's he doing in this game?"

"You know that guy?" Kyne asked in surprise.

"We've been friends for years," Daina explained.

The man in the game glanced over his shoulder for a second before speaking into his RIG. "_Daina,_" he said, "_I've found Isaac Clarke! Repeat, I have him._"

"_Great work, Franco!_" game-Daina complimented much to the shock of everyone in the room, "_Be careful! He's been out a long time!_"

"Daina?" Mercer asked in surprise as everyone faced the blonde woman. She was staring at the screen with a perplexed look on her face.

"I'm…in the game?" she spluttered, "But…how?"

"Exactly how we reacted," Nicole assured her, "You'll get used to it." Daina was still thunderstruck, but she nodded all the same. Everyone continued to watch as game-Isaac started to regain consciousness.

"_Good, good, steady,_" Franco said, "_We've got to get you out of this straitjacket._" Game-Isaac groaned and struggled to stand up.

"_Where am I?_" he mumbled.

Franco gripped him by the upper arms. "_Listen_," he started, "_I know you're confused right now. I can explain everything, but you've got to trust me, okay? You're in terrible, terrible dang-" _

_ Bam! _Suddenly, a familiar looking proboscis pierced Franco's chest, causing everyone to gasp in surprise. "No!" Daina cried, "Franco!"

"And again with the black character dying first!" Hammond growled as he experienced flashbacks to his own game-character's death.

"Sorry, Hammond," Tiedemann and Kendra apologized.

"Not again!" Nicole groaned as Franco transformed into an Enhanced Slasher. Game-Isaac head-butted him and then took off down the hallway.

"_Franco?_" game-Daina cried, "_Franco, what happened? Oh, God. Isaac! Isaac, if you can hear me, run! Run!_"

"Run!" Nicole echoed, shoving the controller into her boyfriend's hands.

"Oh, shit!" Isaac cursed as he began to run, watching as Necromorphs popped out of every room around him.

"Oh, God," Stross whispered, "This is insane!"

One of the Necromorphs suddenly swiped as game-Isaac, making everyone gasp again. "_Evacuation in progress,_" a female voice announced.

"Come on, come on," Isaac muttered to himself as he continued through the hallways.

"How are you running in a straitjacket right now?" Ellie asked in amazement.

"Because I'm still badass," Isaac replied, grinning as Ellie scoffed. He turned his attention back to the screen just as he made it out of the bloodbath. Once he ran through some double doors up ahead, a Necromorph suddenly leaped out of nowhere and grabbed game-Isaac.

"Watch out!" Tiedemann cried, but Isaac immediately began hammering the "A" button in order to shake the Slasher off. After another few seconds, game-Isaac managed to kick the Slasher off as it got sliced in half by the doors.

"So," Kyne started, facing Tiedemann, Stross, Daina, and Ellie, "Are you guys ready for this?"

Just like at the end of _Previously on Dead Space, _the four newcomers just stared at the screen in shock as Isaac went to save at the first Save Station. "Just what kind of game did you buy, Clarke?" Tiedemann asked.

"If you thought that was bad," Kendra answered before Isaac could, "Just hold on to your hats. That was only the beginning."


	2. Chapter One: More Surprises

Wow! A big thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted! I can't thank you guys enough! :D With that in mind, here's the next chapter! I've posted a poll on my profile asking whether or not you'd want to see a "Playing the Game" for Dead Space Extraction, so if you want to vote, just click on my profile! Thanks again! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>"So I'm insane now, huh?" Isaac asked as he guided himself through more of the hospital. His RIG was flashing red after taking some damage from the Necromorphs around him, and everyone had to wonder if they game had done that on purpose.<p>

"Seems that way," Nicole whispered, "I wonder what's going to happen to you, though."

"I'm not sure I want to know," the engineer replied.

"What are you doing, Challus?" Daina suddenly asked as Mercer grabbed a pen and a notepad this time.

"Preparing the complaint list, just in case," he replied.

"Complaint list?" Stross echoed.

"Oh, yeah," Mercer said, remembering the newcomers that were in the room, "It's a list we get together of everything the game gets wrong about us."

"And once we're finished," Kyne continued, "We mail it to Visceral Studios."

"That sounds a lot like nitpicking," Ellie piped up, glancing over her shoulder, "I don't think we'll need it."

"You never know," Mercer muttered as game-Isaac turned down the hallway in time to see two security officers whirl around and point their weapons at him.

"_Clarke!_" they shouted, "_Take him down!_" And without warning, they began to shoot at game-Isaac as he ducked.

"Ahh, what the hell?" the real Isaac gasped, "Why are they shooting at me?"

"Lawbreaker!" Tiedemann joked as Isaac scowled at him.

"Very funny," he said with a smirk on his face as he watched the two security officers get snatched up by something out of sight.

"Uh oh," Kendra whispered, "Where'd they go?"

"I don't want to know," Hammond replied as he, she, and Tiedemann scooted closer together.

Suddenly, a minute later, something fell next to game-Isaac as he entered the next room: the body of one of the security officers. "Eww!" Daina squealed as she looked away, "That's disgusting!"

"There'll be more sights like that in the game," Nicole said to her, "Be prepared." Daina took a deep breath and nodded. She hated the sight of blood.

As Isaac continued to move forward, a voice suddenly spoke from the loudspeakers. "_This is Director Tiedemann to all project personnel,"_ game-Tiedemann announced, "_I want the key subjects terminated and the facility scrubbed. This is not a drill. Tiedemann out._"

"_What?_" Tiedemann spat as everyone faced him in shock, "What is this? How did they capture my voice so well? What project am I talking about?"

"Creepy, isn't it?" Daina asked him, nodding.

"Am I the main antagonist of the game, then?" Tiedemann realized.

"Sounds like it," Ellie answered, "You want to kill Isaac!"

"But…but…" Tiedemann stammered, "I just met you half an hour ago!"

"I'm sure we'll find out soon," Isaac assured him as he continued into the next large room, where yet another voice spoke up.

"_Subject is Nolan Stross. Session one-five-eight." _

"Nolan Stross?" Stross echoed, "Wait, that's me! What's going on?"

"Are you in the game, too?" Hammond asked. Sure enough, as Isaac rounded the corner, he stopped in front of a video screen as Edgar Foster started a recording about Nolan Stross.

"Ahh, it's me!" Stross cried as he pointed at game-Stross, who was looking around anxiously.

"_Stross?_" everyone spluttered as game-Isaac stopped to watch the video. In it, Foster was forcing game-Stross to lean back in order to examine him.

"_Now,_" he began, "_The eye is looking much better today. Yes, don't you think?_"

"_I-it hurts,_" game-Stross stammered, "_Still hurts._"

"_Yes, I'll schedule you for another session tomorrow." _

Game-Stross paled and started shaking his head. _"No, no, no. I don't think I'm ready. I don't think I can take another session, I don't-" _

_ "There!" _Foster declared, "_First thing tomorrow. Now, let's talk about what you saw today._"

"This is so weird," Stross mumbled to himself as he rested his chin in his hands.

"_Come on, Stross! I'm here to help you._"

Everyone watched as game-Stross took a deep breath. "_It was black,_" he said, "_Deep black, and glowing red with symbols. Symbols that whispered to me…_"

"What the hell are you talking about, Nolan?" Kendra asked. Stross shrugged as the scene continued.

"_And what did the symbols whisper to you?_" Foster whispered into game-Stross's ear, making him uncomfortable, "_Come on, Stross. What?_"

"_It was just a shard! It was just a shard, but it put so much stuff in my head. So much…shit in my head. There's no more room for anything! I can't remember what she looks like. Why can't I remember what she looks like?" _

_ "The symbols, Stross! What did the symbols tell you?" _

"What?" Stross groaned, folding his hands as he continued to watch himself on screen.

"_They told me that it wasn't my fault! I didn't kill them! They didn't deserve this and I didn't deserve this! Fucker._"

"Didn't kill who?" Ellie asked.

"_Put Mr. Stross back in stasis,_" Foster ordered, "_Adjust his medication up 30 milligrams, and we'll try another session first thing in the morning._" And with that, the video ended.

"What…was…_that_?" Stross asked, "Damn. I sound like a lunatic in this game!"

"They've gotten our characters wrong in the past," Kyne told him, "Don't feel bad."

"All we need is for Ellie to show up now," Isaac commented, "And that's everybody."

"It'll probably happen," Mercer commented as game-Isaac continued forward.

"_This is Director Tiedemann to all project personnel. I want the key subjects terminated and the facility scrubbed. This is not a drill. Tiedemann out._"

"And there I am again," Tiedemann mused, "I'm definitely the resident bad guy."

In the next room, game-Isaac spotted a man staring vacantly out the window as he scraped the window with a piece of glass. He sounded like he was in between laughing and crying about something. "O…kay?" Isaac said.

"Just tiptoe around him," Ellie suggested, "It can't hurt."

Everyone thought this was a good idea, so Isaac did just that, moving as quietly as possible. However, this proved to be futile; suddenly, the man, who everyone recognized as Foster, whirled around and grabbed game-Isaac by the neck, holding the piece of glass up to his cheek.

"AHH!" everyone in the room screamed except for Ellie, who just frowned.

"Guess that didn't work," she said.

"_Come on, man!_" game-Isaac groaned as Foster began to laugh.

"_Patient Four_," Foster began, "_I remember you. Tiedemann said we…all the key subjects…need to be eliminated. What's one more?_"

"Now _he's _crazy," Stross commented.

"_Listen to me,_" Isaac pleaded, "_Listen to me, man!_"

"_Will it matter?" _

_ "Listen to me!" _

_ "Will it matter?" _

"I think it _will _matter," Nicole said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"_We can both get out of here!_" game-Isaac explained, "_Just…just cut me out of this straitjacket._"

Foster chuckled. "_No one's getting out of here alive_," he replied, "_No one._" He raised his piece of glass, which made everyone gasp.

"_Don't do it,_" game-Isaac warned.

"No, don't kill me!" Isaac shouted at the screen, "The game hasn't even begun yet!"

"He better not do it," Kendra hissed, and they all looked away as they suddenly heard a ripping noise. To their surprise, Foster lowered the glass and cut game-Isaac's straitjacket at the arms, freeing him.

"Thank God," Stross said in a relieved tone of voice. Foster and game-Isaac just stared at each other until the former started laughing.

"_There's no escaping from what I've done_," he said as game-Isaac shook his head and raised his hands.

"_Take it easy, buddy,_" he coaxed, "_Just take it easy._"

"Yeah, do something," Daina muttered.

"_Your RIG is red_," Foster noted, "_It's red. There's a health pack and a flashlight in that wall locker. You should grab them. Go ahead, take it. I won't be needing it anymore._"

The locker next to him opened, and Isaac directed himself over to it, where he picked up the flashlight and med pack. "I guess he's not so bad after all," Kendra decided, and the others nodded in agreement.

Once Isaac healed his game character, he rotated the camera until he faced Foster, who was raising the piece of glass to his neck.

"_Isaac,_" he croaked, "_We're all gonna burn for what we did to you._" And with that, he slit his own neck.

"AHH!" Daina and Stross cried as they averted their eyes.

"Oooo!" everyone else cried.

"You'd think they'd warn us before putting something like that," Daina commented.

"This game doesn't believe in that," Mercer told her as she shuddered.

Game-Isaac turned away from the scene and began heading to the elevator in the corner. Just as he called the elevator, a video log of a blonde woman popped up in front of him.

"Hey, look, it's Daina!" Hammond cried as everyone else gasped.

_"No way!_" Daina cried, "They even got my likeness! This is scary!"

"_Clarke!_" game-Daina began, "_Isaac Clarke, is that you?_"

"_Who are you?_" game-Isaac demanded as he climbed into the elevator.

"_My name is Daina,_" game-Daina explained, "_I'm the one trying to rescue you_."

"_Why? What's going on?_"

"_You're suffering from a unique form of dementia, Isaac. Something you contracted on Aegis 7._"

"How'd you know all that?" Stross asked her, "Maybe you didn't have to watch the recap video after all."

"Yeah, you're pretty well-informed," Kendra joked as Daina grinned, the shock of seeing herself in the game slowly wearing off.

"_How do you know that?" _game-Isaac asked, "_How do you know all this about me?" _

Game-Daina shook her head. "_Your dementia will kill you,_" she insisted, "_But if you can get here, I can treat you and get you to safety._"

"_Why should I trust you?" _

_ "Because I'm not the one shooting at you!_"

"_Fuck._"

"_Just follow the route I'm sending you._" And with that, game-Daina was gone.

"Damn," Isaac muttered under his breath, "I don't seem to trust anyone anymore! I'm a real hardass now."

"Can three years really do that to someone?" Kyne asked with concern.

"Seems like it," Tiedemann answered, "I wonder what I have to do with all this." The others shrugged just as the elevator opened and put game-Isaac in a dark room. In the corner of the screen, a quick tutorial on how to use the navigator popped up, and it was the same as before.

"Bread Crumbs!" Isaac and Nicole shouted at the same time as Isaac pressed the necessary button in order to use the waypoint. This time, however, they all noticed that Bread Crumbs looked much different. Much newer.

"Bread Crumbs?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, that's what the navigator was called in the first game," Nicole quickly explained to her.

"Ahh," Ellie sighed, nodding in understanding.

Isaac made himself hold out the flashlight in front of him as he crept through this next part, and all ten people in the room subconsciously huddled closer together in anticipation. "I hate dark hallways," Isaac whispered, "They always give me the creeps." Nicole shivered as he said this.

"This _game _is giving me the creeps so far," Daina piped up from next to Mercer, Kyne, and Stross. A few stray noises made them all jump, but Isaac took a deep breath and continued to play as he ended up in another dimly lit hallway. Suddenly, his game character stopped, and after a flash of light, everything turned orange around him.

"Wait," Hammond said, "What's happening?"

An image of a woman suddenly appeared in a wheelchair right next to game-Isaac just as a voice began to whisper. "Is that _me_?" Nicole gasped.

"Looks like it," Stross answered, "Why is everything orange?"

"_What the hell?_" game-Isaac mumbled to himself as another flash occurred and the orange light disappeared.

"That's what I'd like to know," Isaac muttered, "Is that the dementia I apparently have?"

"How many more of those visions are going to appear?" Tiedemann wondered.

"With this game," Mercer said, "You never know."

Isaac quickly saved at the next Save Station before spotting a vent right next to him. With a touch of a button, he opened it and began to crawl through it to get somewhere else.

"_Welcome…CEC Engineer Isaac Clarke,_" a voice announced, "_Access Granted._"

"Thank you!" Isaac thanked the voice, but as he continued to crawl, a vent suddenly dropped out from underneath him, and he crashed to the ground.

"Careful, Mr. Clarke," Kyne warned him.

"_Isaac!_" game-Daina gasped, "_What happened? Are you all right?_"

"_Why are you helping me?_" game-Isaac asked.

"_If Tiedemann finds you, more people will die." _

_ "Including me." _

_ "Not if you follow my route!" _

Isaac put the controller down, turned around, and smiled at Tiedemann. "Why are you so hell bent on killing me, Tiedemann?" he joked.

"Believe me," Tiedemann assured him, "I'm trying to figure out the same thing."

"_I don't like this,_" game-Isaac decided.

"_You don't have to like it!_" game-Daina snapped, "_Just hurry before you get locked in!_"

"Geez," Isaac commented, "What'll happen if I get locked in?"

"I don't want to know," Stross said.

"Let's keep going," Hammond suggested, and with that, game-Isaac picked himself up and decided to keep moving.


	3. Chapter One: New Enemies

All right! Next chapter is here! Sorry for the long wait, but thanks to everyone for all the support! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>Once Isaac finished flexing his fingers, he picked up the controller and continued to play, making his way over to a control panel right in front of a machine.<p>

"Hmm," he said as he pressed a button. Everyone watched with wide eyes as game-Isaac began to do a little hacking before finally ripping something out. Music played in the background just as he placed something around his wrist.

"Oh my God!" Kendra cried excitedly, "It's a Kinesis Module!"

"That's back?" Hammond piped up as well, "Cool!"

"Kinesis Module?" Tiedemann asked, raising an eyebrow, "They have those in the game, too?"

"Looks like it," Ellie answered, "I use those all the time at work."

"It's really come in handy," Isaac said in a nostalgic tone, "Here, watch." Stross leaned forward in his seat as the engineer remembered which controls were for Kinesis, and he proceeded to pick up one of the sharp sticks on the ground and hurl it towards the glass in the corner.

"Cool," the scientist whispered just as game-Isaac encountered a few Necromorphs that burst from the vents in the corners of the next hallway.

"Watch out!" Nicole cried as one of the Slashers cut game-Isaac across the chest. Isaac immediately turned around as he used Kinesis to pick up the other sticks in order to toss them at the Necromorphs. He noticed that they seemed to just stick to the wall as they died instantly.

"That's it?" Daina asked, "That's all it takes to kill them?"

"Like that," Kyne answered, "You have to cut off the limbs with a weapon, though unfortunately, he doesn't have a weapon right now."

"Damn," Ellie cursed, "No headshots?"

"Not in this game," Isaac said to her as she frowned, "Not like that, anyway. Aww, are you upset now?" He grinned wolfishly as Ellie reached across Nicole and playfully punched his shoulder.

"Bastard," the pilot replied, but she used a lighthearted tone of voice, so the systems engineer knew she didn't mean it. Isaac couldn't help but laugh a little bit at her antics, despite the fact that he had only known her for about an hour now.

"Let's get back to the game," Nicole suggested, and Isaac wasn't sure if it was just him, but his girlfriend sounded a little…annoyed. He just shrugged it off as he continued into the next hallway, where he killed some more Slashers in the same fashion.

"This must be part of the new game play," Kyne realized, "But I like it a lot."

"Yeah, well, I'd like a _real _weapon soon," Isaac replied, "I miss my Plasma Cutter."

At this, Ellie's eyes lit up in excitement. "Hold on!" she cried, "They have Plasma Cutters as weapons?" The old timers nodded.

"Now _this _is my kind of game," she declared as the others shared a laugh.

As soon as Isaac entered the next part of the hospital, he suddenly heard screaming. "That doesn't sound good," Hammond whispered just as game-Isaac encountered a man strapped down to a lab table.

"_Help! Help! Is anyone there?_"

"Isaac's there!" Kendra cried.

Game-Isaac walked over to the man, who sighed in relief. "_You!_" he shouted, "_Thank God! Please, come help me!_"

"_Calm down!_" game-Isaac replied, "_I'll cut you out of there, Is that a tissue laser? A plasma cutter?_"

"Oh my God!" Kyne cried, "Weren't we _just _talking about this?"

"Are we getting a weapon now?" Stross asked him.

"I think so," Kyne replied.

Just as Isaac sat back and watched his game counterpart hack this panel, he suddenly heard a growling noise, which sent a shiver down everyone's spine. "Oh, God," Mercer whispered.

"_Oh my God!_" the man strapped to the lab table petitioned as a Slasher appeared.

"Isaac, do something!" Nicole cried.

"_Fuck,_" game-Isaac cursed.

"_What the fuck are you doing?_" the man yelled.

"_Oh, shit._"

"_Hurry up!_"

"_I'm trying, I'm trying!_"

"Try harder!" Tiedemann cried, "Don't just let him die!"

Unfortunately, that was exactly what ended up happening as game-Isaac finally managed to construct a makeshift Plasma Cutter for the time being.

"Isaac," Kendra piped up, "You're awesome! Have we ever told you that?"

"Thanks," Isaac thanked her, "And you have on more than one occasion." He smiled as he raised the weapon and began shooting at the Necromorphs that were flooding into the room. A green box popped up next to his game character, which took him through the controls once again. Ellie, Stross, Daina, and Tiedemann watched with wide eyes as game-Isaac dismembered each Slasher and picked up the stray credits, med packs, and ammo that they left in place.

"What a unique way to kill enemies," Stross commented. The other newcomers nodded in agreement. Once Isaac was finished, he moved on after killing a Slasher that was strapped to another lab table, before following Bread Crumbs into the next area.

"_Isaac, it's Daina,_" game-Daina said out of nowhere, "_You have to dismember the creatures to stop them._"

"_I know,_" game-Isaac replied, "_I've had a lot of practice._"

"In your face, Daina!" Hammond teased.

"Very funny," Daina said, even though she was laughing as well, "I'm just trying to help, is all."

"_Just try to stay in one piece,_" game-Daina advised.

"_Thanks_," Isaac thanked her before she went offline.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few more hallways and battles with Necromorphs later…<strong>_

"I love how there were almost no Necromorphs before, but now that you have a weapon, they're everywhere," Tiedemann mused once Isaac had his game counterpart reload his Plasma Cutter.

"It was like that in the first game, too," Kendra told him, "Almost like they know when he's armed." She shuddered.

Once Isaac was finished in this area, he moved on to the next part of the hospital, where lights began to flash and alarms began to ring. "That doesn't sound good," Nicole whispered. That was when another familiar figure appeared and began to wave to game-Isaac.

"_Isaac?_" he asked.

"STROSS!" everyone cried as the real Stross widened his eyes.

"There I am, in the flesh," he whispered, "I…don't know what to say."

"_Isaac, come on!_" game-Stross shouted, "_Come on, they're after us!_" He turned and began to run down the hallway.

"_Wait, wait!_" game-Isaac yelled, "_Who is? Who's after us?_"

"Doesn't your character recognize mine?" Stross asked Isaac, "You just watched a video about me!" The others shrugged as Isaac directed game-Isaac down the stairs and over to a bulkhead that was closing. Up ahead, game-Stross was just sliding underneath the small space between the gate and the floor.

"_Isaac! Isaac! Through here! Come on, Isaac!_"

"Damn," Kendra commented, "Smart _and _athletic."

"Hardly," Stross joked just as the gate closed, leaving both game characters trapped on opposite sides. "No!" Hammond cried.

"_Aww, no!_" game-Stross whined, "_No! Isaac! Remember me! Patient five. I'm patient five, remember? Do you remember? Agh!" _

"No, I don't remember, apparently," Isaac whispered just as the second gate shut as well, blocking game-Stross from everyone's view.

"Aww, man!" the engineer groaned a few seconds later, "Now what?"

"_Daina!_" game-Isaac snapped into his communicator, "_Your fucking route didn't work! There's a security lockdown!_"

"Whoa!" Nicole gasped, "Easy on the language, Isaac. They've turned you into a trucker!"

"HA!" Isaac laughed, "I see."

"_I told you to hurry!_" game-Daina replied in an equally short tone, "_How'd you miss it?_"

"_Look, I don't need your help,_" game-Isaac growled.

"_Fine!_" game-Daina huffed, "_Let's see how long you last without it!_"

"All right, break it up, you two," Kyne chided, nodding at Isaac and Daina.

"You remind me of Kendra's game character from the first game," Isaac commented to Mercer's friend, "When she and Hammond were fighting."

"I don't know if I like how they're portraying me as being arrogant," Daina said worriedly.

While this conversation was going on, a few Necromorphs appeared, forcing game-Isaac to use the Plasma Cutter once again to take care of them. Once they were all down, game-Isaac reloaded his Plasma Cutter and then got back in contact with game-Daina.

"_Daina?_" he quipped, "_Daina? Okay, you're right. I do need your help. Talk to me._"

"_Look, Isaac,_" Daina replied, "_We don't have to be friends, but like it or not, we're stuck together. Tiedemann's your enemy, not me. All right. I've found you a new route._"

"_Fine_," game-Isaac sighed, "_So where the hell am I? How did another Necromorph outbreak get started?_"

"_You're on Titan Station, orbiting Saturn. As for the outbreak…_" Suddenly, a burst of static interrupted her.

"_Shit!_" she cursed, "_Tiedemann's jamming my signal!_" And with that, she disappeared.

"Stop jamming my signal, Tiedemann!" Daina teased.

"Sorry," Tiedemann apologized, "I have no idea why I'm the bad guy."

Once game-Isaac was finished in that area, he moved on to the next hallway, saved at the Save Station, and then entered another room, where a humming noise greeted him. "Whoa!" everyone gasped.

"What is this?" Ellie whispered as Bread Crumbs pointed game-Isaac towards another control panel. This time, when he opened it, however, a green tutorial box appeared next to him.

"Cool," Isaac said, "I get to do the hacking this time!" It didn't seem too tough, even though he messed up and took a little bit of damage before continuing. Once he was finished hacking the system, he proceeded to make a Stasis Module of his own.

"Stasis is back, too!" Hammond realized, "I like that more than Kinesis."

As soon as game-Isaac fitted the Stasis Module on his wrist, a Necromorph burst from a vent in one corner of the room and charged towards him. "Look out!" Kyne cried, and Isaac quickly remembered how to use Stasis before using it to slow down this new Necromorph. After taking it down, he reloaded his Plasma Cutter before using Stasis again to open the gate in front of him.

"That is so cool," Stross commented, similar to when he had complimented the Kinesis Module. On the other side, more dark hallways were just up ahead, and Daina shivered as game-Isaac began to wend his way through them.

_Grrr! _"What was that?" Tiedemann whispered worriedly.

"That doesn't sound like any Necromorph I've ever heard," Kendra commented as she huddled closer to Hammond.

Sure enough, up ahead, a seemingly new Necromorph ambled towards game-Isaac as it expelled vomit from its mouth and onto Isaac's game-character. "_Eww!_" everyone cried as he or she looked away.

"I think I lost my appetite just now," Stross groaned.

"What the hell type of Necromorph is that?" Nicole cried.

"A Puker," Ellie answered, "Let's call it a Puker."

"I wonder if there will be any other new Necromorphs," Isaac wondered as he continued to kill more Pukers that were in the area. Once that was finished, he made his way into an elevator in the corner of the room, and he pressed the button to go down to the lower level.

It was not even a few minutes before the elevator shook and the lights shut off. "_What the fuck?_" game-Isaac hissed under his breath as a screen turned to static next to him.

"What's happening?" Kyne asked worriedly.

"_How I wonder what you are,_" a voice began to sing, "_Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky…_"

"Nursery rhymes?" Tiedemann quipped, "What's up with the nursery rhyme?"

However, that was the least of everyone's concerns. Suddenly, something flashed in the corner of the screen. "_Nicole?_" game-Isaac whispered, causing everyone in the room to stare at the Senior Medical Officer.

"It's me again," she announced, pointing at the game, "Why do I look so _spooky_?"

In the game, game-Nicole was approaching game-Isaac with the same light glowing from her eyes and mouth. As soon as she was close enough, she leaned in close to his face in a flash of orange light. "_Make us whole!_" she hissed before everything went dark.

"Holy crap," Kyne and Mercer whispered to themselves as everyone else jumped in his or her seat. After another second, the lights in the elevator turned back on as game-Isaac arrived at his destination.

"Is there a reason you keep showing up like that?" Isaac asked the real Nicole, "It's starting to scare me a little bit."

"That makes two of us," Nicole said in response, "I don't like looking like a ghost."

"Does that answer your question, Tiedemann?" Isaac asked, facing Tiedemann, who just nodded sagely.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A little while later…<strong>_

"Hey, check this out!" Isaac cried, "A Store!"

"Finally!" Kendra said, "I never thought we'd see one of those!"

"A Store?" Daina asked.

"Yeah," Kyne said to her, "You can buy everything here!" Daina just nodded in understanding.

"I have enough credits for a new Plasma Cutter, some ammo, some med packs, and an Engineering Suit," Isaac said to himself, purchasing everything before watching his game character climb into the Store. A beam appeared before game-Isaac stepped out, admiring his new suit. He then glanced up as his helmet covered his face in a flash of light.

"Badass!" Isaac cried just as he was finished at the Store, "I like how the helmet goes over my head like that."

"I like how they're showing more of your face period," Nicole added.

"Can't argue with that," Ellie joked as Isaac grinned to himself. Nicole frowned for a second as her boyfriend saved at the Save Station and then decided to continue. A whoosh of air greeted him as a timer on his back began to count down.

"_Entering vacuum._"

"Oh, boy," Stross piped up, "So they have airless sections, huh?"

"Of course," Mercer said to him, "This is space!"

"I knew that," Stross mumbled as Isaac quickly made himself run through this hallway and into another room just outside the hospital. The first thing he noticed was the Stasis Recharge in the corner, as well as the many boxes that were lying around.

"Hmm," he hummed as he made his way forward, "This looks suspicious."

"Any time I see a Stasis Recharge is suspicious," Hammond added. The others had to agree with that.

Isaac ran around the room as he stomped some of the boxes and collected the items inside, but a second later, suspenseful music began to play as a large, hulking Necromorph leaped up from behind a broken tram. "AHH!" all ten adults in the room screamed.

"What the hell is that?" Stross cried as the three-legged monster began a battle with game-Isaac.

"Aww, shit," Isaac cursed, "This is going to take a while." He noticed immediately that there were three yellow weak spots on the Tripod, which he realized he would have to shoot in order to kill it.

"Damn, that thing moves fast," Ellie commented as the Tripod stomped in large strides towards Isaac's game counterpart. The real Isaac quickly used Stasis before shooting one of the pods, weakening the Tripod. Once the Stasis wore off, the Necromorph moved forward and swiped at game-Isaac's chest.

"Ooooooo!" everyone cooed as the RIG on game-Isaac's suit started to turn yellow. Isaac cursed under his breath as he refilled his Stasis Module before using it to slow the Tripod down again.

"Come on, come on!" he growled as he tried shooting at another weak spot, but the Tripod wouldn't give up. Because Isaac had picked the Survivalist Difficulty, he realized he was taking extra damage now. Pretty soon, his game character's RIG was flashing red.

"Oh, no," Kyne moaned, "Don't die on us now!"

He had spoken too soon. After Isaac landed in a few more shots with the Tripod, the Necromorph swiped at him again, knocking him to the ground as his helmet fell off.

"Crap!" Ellie groaned, "He _is _about to die!"

"Oh, shit!" Tiedemann, Kendra, Hammond, and Stross all cursed as the Tripod climbed onto Isaac and lowered one of its legs into his mouth.

"AHH!" Daina and Nicole cried as they looked away from the screen.

"Why does everything have to take my head off?" Isaac groaned as he glanced up to see that his game counterpart's head was gone. After that, the Tripod dug its claws into his torso and pulled as blood splattered onto the screen and made it fade to black.

"Ooooooo!" everyone cried again.

"Great," Isaac moaned, "I'm not even past the first chapter yet and I already died!"

"This game is getting a little too intense, Clarke," Tiedemann commented, "How many more times are you going to die?"

"I don't want to know," the engineer replied just as the _Sprawl_'s logo flashed onto the loading screen.


	4. Chapter One & Two: Stationwide Emergency

All right! I'm really sorry I took so long in updating this. I've been busy with volunteer work, and my cousin was visiting for the last week and a half, but I'm finally here with the next chapter. I've decided to try combining some of the game chapters, since a few of them are really short. Thank you to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story, and hopefully, I won't have another long gap in updating. Thank you for being patient with me while I get this done.

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>"Are all the deaths going to be that violent?" Daina asked once the game reloaded and Isaac proceeded to begin the Tripod battle again.<p>

"To some extent," the engineer replied as he used Stasis before zeroing in on one of the bulbous, yellow pods.

"Just sit back and enjoy yourself," Kendra said to her.

"I am," Daina insisted, "I was just wondering, is all."

"Wonder no more," Hammond joked. Daina just grinned as she turned her attention back to the screen, where game-Isaac had just taken damage from the Tripod.

"Is that the biggest type of Necromorph in the game?" Stross asked.

Isaac healed his game character quickly before carrying on. "No," he replied as he used more Stasis on the Tripod, "We've seen bigger."

"Like the Hive Mind!" Nicole added.

"And the Brute," Kyne also quipped.

"The Brute is _not _bigger than the Tripod," Kendra argued, frowning at the Unitologist.

"It's still a rather large Necromorph," Kyne insisted.

Kendra huffed. "Want Mercer to pull up the _Dead Space _wiki again?" she asked, "To find pictures of both these Necromorphs?"

"Wait, what?" Stross gasped just as game-Isaac took a little bit of damage from the Tripod, "There's a page about us?"

"Yeah," Isaac piped up from his place in front of the TV, "We found it last time when we needed to find a walkthrough on one part of the game."

"Can we see this 'wiki page'?" Tiedemann asked.

"Maybe some other time," Isaac mumbled as he finished taking on the Tripod, "If we need to look up another walkthrough."

"If it's a game about us, that won't be necessary," Daina piped up.

On the screen, the Tripod collapsed for one last time after smacking game-Isaac for getting too close to it. "_Jesus, that thing was angry,_" he commented.

"No shit," Ellie joked.

"You're not funny," Isaac replied as he laughed. She stuck out her tongue as game-Daina spoke up.

"_Okay,_" she said, "_The tram station is just beyond the apartment blocks._"

"_Hang on_," game-Isaac interrupted, "_I need more answers. How long have I been here?_"

"_Three years,_" game-Daina explained, "_Tiedemann found you floating in space near Aegis 7 and brought you here for study._" Everyone glanced at Tiedemann.

"Why can't I remember anything?" game-Isaac inquired.

"_The Marker you found imprinted your brain with a self-replicating signal. The longer you're awake, the more the signal spreads. It's killing you, Isaac. Tiedemann tried to keep it in check with memory suppressants." _

"So basically, you drugged me?" Isaac asked, facing the real Tiedemann once again.

"Apparently," Tiedemann replied, "Though I don't do drugs or give anyone drugs in real life."

"Thanks for the clarification," Kendra snorted.

"_You said you could fix it, right?_" game-Isaac asked.

"_Only if you reach me in time. Tram station. Get moving._"

"All right, Miss Bossy," Ellie chuckled as Daina shrugged nonchalantly.

"You're starting to sound just like me now," Kendra

mused.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few minutes later…<strong>_

"Aww, no chapter titles?" Hammond asked as Chapter Two began.

"Doesn't look like it," Kyne said, "Maybe it's for the best."

"The chapter titles spelled out a message last time," Nicole explained to Ellie, Stross, Daina, and Tiedemann, "It said, 'Nicole is dead'."

"That's not very cheerful," Stross retorted.

"The first game was depressing," Isaac added, "Everyone died except for me."

"What's that in the corner?" Tiedemann asked, pointing to the first Bench of the game.

"A Bench," Mercer answered.

"You can upgrade your weapons and health with Power Nodes," Isaac explained after quickly upgrading his suit and refurbished Plasma Cutter.

"Cool," Stross whispered.

"By the way," Isaac spoke up again, "Maybe I'll do three chapters today and then call it quits for the night."

"Is that what you did last time?" Ellie questioned.

"Yeah," Hammond told her, "Otherwise, we'd be here all night."

Once game-Isaac was finished taking care of business, he wandered into the next hallway, where a short jingle played before a public message was delivered.

"_Attention. This is Director Tiedemann. A station-wide emergency is in effect. In accordance with Titan Station Civic Code, I am declaring martial law. All citizens are ordered to evacuate. Looters will be shot on sight. This is not a drill. Move immediately to the nearest evac route._"

"At least I'm not a complete asshole," Tiedemann conceded, "I'm trying to help everyone escape."

"But you're still trying to kill me," Isaac teased, and Tiedemann scowled in mock anger.

After saving and using a Power Node on a storage room, game-Isaac trekked into the next area. A Necromorph suddenly popped out of a nearby vent, scaring everyone in the room half to death. "I didn't realize the game was this scary," Stross whispered.

"Hold on," Nicole cut him off, "What's happening?"

Up ahead, two people could be seen fleeing. "_No, no!_" the woman cried, "_I'm not leaving my mother!_"

"_We have to go!_" the man pulling her away replied, "_Now!_"

"_No! Mom!_"

"Damn," Ellie cursed, "Is this game depressing or what?"

"_Depressing _is an understatement," Kendra answered before Isaac could open his mouth. Nicole shot the computer specialist a surreptitious smile, and Kendra winked in response.

Once more Slashers were taken care of, Isaac reloaded his weapons and carried on through the rest of the hallways. As of now, there was nothing to comment on, so he just continued to play in silence until he checked Bread Crumbs. "Elevator time!" he announced unnecessarily.

"Captain Obvious to the rescue," Hammond joked, which suddenly stopped as the elevator shook and the lights went off.

"Oh, boy," Stross groaned, "Is this another Nicole hallucination?"

"Don't think so," the real Nicole whispered. Out of nowhere, the elevator doors in front of game-Isaac opened to reveal a man trying to crawl in.

"_Oh my God!_" everyone in the room screamed.

"Why aren't you helping him, Isaac?" Daina asked incredulously, "Your game-character isn't very nice!"

"You should've seen him in the _first _game," Mercer said to her, "He was worse in that one."

"I can just imagine," Daina mumbled.

Unfortunately, the man trying to crawl into the elevator didn't make it, and Isaac keep moving up until he arrived on the upper level.

"_Isaac!_" game-Stross suddenly cried as he waved to game-Isaac, "_Isaac, over here!_"

"_Now _do you know who I am?" Stross asked as he cradled himself.

Once game-Isaac was facing Stross's game counterpart, a video log flashed up on the screen, zooming in on game-Stross's face. "_Who are you?_" game-Isaac asked.

"Apparently not," the real Isaac answered in response to Stross's question.

"_It's the drugs, Isaac!_" game-Stross insisted, "_They gave us drugs to make us forget, but it's all coming back now!_"

"_I don't know what you're talking about! Why are you calling me?_"

"_Isaac! Isaac, look out!_" Game-Stross disappeared as a Leaper made its way up to where game-Isaac was.

"Thanks for the heads-up," Isaac muttered as he proceeded to take out the Leaper.

"I don't like that Necromorph too much," Tiedemann commented.

"Me neither," Ellie agreed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few minutes later…<strong>_

"_There are Necromorphs everywhere_," game-Isaac reported, "_Is the entire Sprawl infected? How did this happen? I destroyed the Marker, Daina! I destroyed it!_"

"_You destroyed A Marker, Isaac,_" game-Daina corrected, "_Tiedemann built another one._"

"Damn you, Tiedemann!" Isaac cried in mock anger as he shook his fist in the air.

"After all we went through to destroy the first one," Kyne added jokingly.

"Sorry, guys," Tiedemann apologized, chuckling as he drank a little more beer.

"_He built it on this station?_" game-Isaac asked, "_Why?_"

"_It's powerful alien technology. Tiedemann wants that power. Get to the tram; it'll take you to the Cassini Towers Tram Station._"

"_Daina?_" game-Isaac asked as the transmission began to experience static, "_Damn it._"

"I never considered myself to be _that _power hungry," Tiedemann commented once game-Isaac had taken the elevator down to the next level. After hunting around and picking up various items, he moved on after killing some more Leapers. Tiedemann was right; those Leapers were still annoying, even after the first game. Just when Isaac thought he was finished taking them out, he heard another familiar wail.

"_Nyah! AHH!_"

"I see those are back, too," the systems engineer muttered.

"What's back?" Stross asked nervously.

"You'll see," Kyne assured him, and Stross shuddered.

A few Exploders crawled out of the vents up ahead, staggering towards game-Isaac as they continued to moan. "Oh my God," Stross petitioned.

"Told you," Kyne replied.

Game-Isaac raised his Plasma Cutter as he shot their main, yellow pods in order to make them explode away from him. "You're not half bad at this, Isaac," Ellie complimented, "Too bad Stross, Daina, Tiedemann, and I weren't there to watch you play the first game."

"I died a lot," Isaac told her.

"I think we lost count on how many deaths you experienced," Nicole quipped, leaning her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.

In the next hallway, the screen suddenly flashed orange. "Oh, _God,_" everyone in the room groaned as he or she realized what was about to happen.

_"Isaac? Are you there?" _game-Nicole whispered_, "I'm so cold." _In response, the real Isaac wrapped his arms around Nicole and hugged her gently.

_"The needle is burning in my arm," _game-Nicole continued_, "Isaac? Where are you? The room is getting dark. I can't see you. Isaac?" _

"Is that supposed to be…" Nicole began to ask, but didn't finish.

"Yeah," Isaac said as he pushed the analog stick forward to move himself. He emerged into the tram station, where the ghostly image of game-Nicole sat on one of the benches. She glanced up at game-Isaac, she emitted white light from her eyes and mouth just as a burning tram rushed through the station.

"_What the hell?_" everyone cried, and Stross actually jumped in the air, for he wasn't expecting to see something like that. The tram raced into the other tunnel, leaving a trail of fire and flying papers in its wake. The hallucination also ended at the same time.

"I hope we find out why you're hallucinating me all the time," Nicole said hopefully.

"Was the burning tram part of the hallucination?" Kyne asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Doesn't look like it," Isaac said in response, "Let's keep playing."


	5. Chapter Two & Three: Moving On

All right! Next chapter is here! Thanks again for reviewing and supporting this story! Enjoy! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>Once Isaac was finished dispatching all the Necromorphs in the tram station, he made his way over to the unused tram on the other side of the room. "More hacking!" he announced excitedly as he directed game-Isaac over to the panel on one end of the car.<p>

"We should have a contest at the CEC tomorrow," Ellie suggested as she chuckled, "Let's see which one of us can hack the fastest."

"Ellie," Isaac retorted, "I am the _champion _of hacking!"

"For a guy who apparently dies a lot at his own game, you're pretty full of yourself," Ellie joked.

"Don't listen to a word he says, Ellie," Nicole cut in, a spark of annoyance in her voice, "He's always going on like this."

"And then he gets his ass handed to him in the game," Hammond piped up. Everyone laughed.

On the screen, game-Isaac finished hacking the system just as the tram started to move out of the station. Up ahead, the door remained locked, but a Slasher popped through one of the side windows, making everyone jump.

"Kill it! Kill it!" Stross and Daina cried as game-Isaac raised his Plasma Cutter and took care of it.

"_Now approaching Cassini Towers tram station,_" a voice announced, "_Please remain seated while the tram is in motion._"

"Kind of impossible at the moment," Isaac muttered as he dismembered a few more Necromorphs before watching the door unlock itself. He picked up a few stray items before moving on to the next car on the tram. Through this window, some Slashers, Pukers, and Exploders appeared next with their signature growls and screeches.

"I wonder who's genius idea it was to create these type of enemies in the first place," Tiedemann commented.

"Someone who thought it would be unique to have to sever limbs to kill something," Kendra answered for him.

"It _is _pretty original," Stross agreed, "I wish Alexis could see this right now." Everyone just smiled at the mention of Alexis Stross, and then they turned their attention back to the game. For the next few minutes, nobody could think of anything to say. Everyone's gaze was glued to the screen.

At one point, game-Isaac opened the door of the car he was in and noticed that it was detached from the rest of the tram. "Now what?" Kyne groaned.

"Time to fly," Isaac said breezily as he made his game-character kick up from the ground and fly towards the other car. After gliding for a minute or two, he finally managed to grab onto the railing outside the other car.

"_AHH!_" game-Isaac screamed as "A" appeared next to him.

"Hurry!" Kendra cried, "Press the A button!"

"I am, I am!" Isaac yelled as he button mashed for the next few seconds. He continued to do this until game-Isaac managed to tumble into the next car. A few more Necromorphs greeted him, and he quickly picked himself up as he used the Line Gun to take them all out.

"I wonder how long this sequence will last for," Daina commented.

Almost as if on cue, game-Isaac went to open the next door, only to get knocked down to the ground. He tried to hold onto a beam closest to him, but he fell to the floor anyway and began sliding through the next few doors.

"AHH!" Tiedemann gasped, "Watch out for the Necromorphs!"

"I can't hit them anyway," Isaac replied, "Just a waste of ammo."

"Watch out!" Nicole warned sharply, and everyone looked up to see game-Isaac fall out of the end of the tram. At the last minute, his foot got caught on a loose cable, and he ended up hanging upside down.

"Damn," Hammond hissed, "That's not giving you a blood rush at all."

Isaac smirked to himself. "Would someone kindly cut me down from there?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at Daina.

"I can't help you," she joked, "Sorry."

_Grrr. _"Oh, great," Ellie groaned, "That sounds like more of those bastards."

Suddenly, something dawned on all ten people in the room. "Wait," Isaac whispered, "Am I going to have to fight these Necromorphs upside down?"

"Looks like it," Kendra surmised.

"Badass!" Isaac cried again as he aimed his Plasma Cutter upside down and began taking on all the Necromorphs that way.

"Is there anything my game character can't do?" he asked the others.

"It's like they purposely like to get you to be so full of yourself," Ellie commented, "And they're doing a damn good job."

"Something will get him in the end," Kyne assured her, "Just wait."

"Oh, hush," Isaac cut in good-naturedly as he continued to battle the Necromorphs while still dangling upside down.

"All jokes aside," the engineer mused, "Someone's going to have to cut me down. I can't stay like that forever."

"You could," Ellie piped up, "You'd just have a very swelled head. Literally." Isaac just grinned and shook his head. Ellie Langford seemed to know how to put him in his place. That was a first.

Pretty soon, game-Isaac was finished taking out all the Necromorphs in the area, and he heard a loud stomping noise coming from the tram. The camera panned around until it showed a hulking Necromorph that bore a striking resemblance to a Brute, but might not have been. "What the hell is that thing?" Stross spluttered.

"A rather large Necromorph," Kyne deduced. Isaac made himself aim at the monster and shoot it before it raised a claw and cut the cable.

"Aww, a helpful Necromorph," Kendra cooed, "How cute!"

"Yeah," Isaac said sarcastically, "More helpful than all the humans in this room." Everyone chuckled.

With a thud, game-Isaac crashed to the ground. Around him, briefcases began to fall next to him as the tram swung back and forth. "_Oh, shit!_" he cursed as he leaped up and made a run for it, dodging more bags as he covered his head.

"Run, Forest, run!" Nicole cried. Game-Isaac continued to run as the tram crashed to the ground and exploded.

"Shit," everyone cursed, "The game makers seem to love explosions."

"You should've seen the first game," Mercer commented, "He blew up a whole planet!"

"Christ!" Stross gasped, "How'd you do _that_?"

"Skills, man," Isaac replied, "Skills."

"More like tectonic loads," Hammond muttered, but Kendra shushed him.

"_Daina? I need a new route,_" game-Isaac announced.

"_What happened?_" game-Daina cried, "_I thought we lost you!_"

"_Unscheduled stop_," game-Isaac replied, "_Where am I?_"

"_How did you end up there? Hang on. This won't be the most pleasant route, but it'll get you to the Cassini Towers residential suite._" A beeping noise in the background caught game-Isaac's attention.

"_Damn it!_" game-Daina cursed, "_Tiedemann has your signal again. Keep moving! You're very important to them, Isaac…Hold tight, I'll contact you soon!_"

"I don't know how you're important to me, Clarke," Tiedemann quipped, "But I guess we'll find out."

"That was the end of chapter two," Daina announced, "Now, it's chapter three!"

"Last chapter of the night," Isaac decided, cracking his knuckles before picking up the controller and moving forward. As he entered another hallway, an unfamiliar screech greeted his ears as a shadow loomed on the wall before disappearing.

"What was that?" Nicole asked in a nervous whisper.

"No clue," Isaac whispered back before moving on. He entered another hallway, where the entrance to the Titan Elementary School was locked. He checked Bread Crumbs and noticed he had to move forward.

The same screeching from before was back. "God damn it!" Isaac growled, forcing himself to lift his Line Gun, "Show yourself!"

Sure enough, a large group of Necromorphs entered the scene, but there was something different about these ones.

"This is fucked up!" Stross gasped, covering his mouth, "Are those…children?"

"I think so," Kyne answered, looking thoroughly shocked, "I never thought the game developers would create kid Necromorphs."

"This is crazy," Isaac agreed as he used the Line Gun to take on the Pack, which attacked in fierce swipes.

"Don't get killed, Clarke," Tiedemann advised.

"I've got it," Isaac assured him, but he was unnerved by seeing Necromorph children. His game counterpart took a lot of damage from the Pack, but he recovered just as he finished them off.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," he conceded as he healed one last time and reloaded his Line Gun. He'd have to get a Pulse Rifle soon. He'd need it for another wave of Necromorphs like that.

Suddenly, a screen popped up in front of him, and game-Stross reappeared. "Ahh, it's Stross!" Hammond cried.

"Shut up," Stross replied, though he was laughing, too.

"_Isaac!_" game-Stross began, looking around nervously, "_Isaac, you still alive?_"

"Duh," Daina teased, and Stross just glared at her for a second.

"_Are the memories coming back to you?_" game-Stross asked game-Isaac, "_They're coming back to me! The good ones…ow!_" He clutched his head.

"Never thought having good memories could be painful," Tiedemann muttered.

"_T-the bad ones,_" game-Stross stammered, "_The more I remember, the more my head hurts. I keep seeing the symbols…Do you see the symbols, too, Isaac? And him…I keep seeing his face…_"

"Jesus, Stross," Isaac said, "You sound a little crazy. What are you talking about?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Stross answered.

"_Ah, shit,_" game-Stross cursed, "_They've found me._" And with that, he was gone.

"You're the _Dead Space 2 _version of Dr. Kyne," Kendra announced, "I called it." The others chuckled as Isaac visited the Store, saved the game, and went up to the next floor in the elevator in front of him. As soon as he made it to the Concourse, one of the Pack screeched at him before leaping off the railing it was standing on.

"What the hell?" the engineer whispered to himself as he moved his game character forward.

"_Hey, Daina?_" game-Isaac said into his communicator, "_There's this crazy guy that keeps contacting me. I saw him back at the hospital_."

"I am not crazy!" Stross insisted.

"_Nolan Stross,_" game-Daina explained, "_He was a patient in the project, just like you._"

"_Yeah? Why was he there? What does he want?_"

"_He's a psychopath, Isaac. Stay clear of him. He murdered his own wife and child._"

"_What?_" everyone in the room gasped, especially Stross, who paled.

"I murdered my family?" he echoed, "What the hell?"

"_Okay, I'll be careful_," game-Isaac assured her, and game-Daina went offline.

"Stross?" Daina asked cautiously.

"I'm not a psychopath," he told his friends, "I'm not a psychopath. You know I would never hurt my family like that."

Well, they _didn't _know, but Nolan Stross seemed nice enough. "Any reason why you murdered your family in the game?" Hammond asked.

"No clue," Stross mumbled, "I hate to think what else they're going to do to all our characters."

"I'm not even there," Ellie whined, "I can't tell."

"If this is anything like the first game," Isaac piped up, "Everyone except for me will probably be dead." The others shrugged, with Stross still fuming over the fact that his game character killed his wife and son.

"Complaint list?" Mercer asked, holding the notepad and pen in front of Stross.

"No, thanks," Stross declined, "Although I'm angry about this character development, it's just a game."

"Suit yourself," the Unitologist replied, setting the book aside and settling back in his chair.

Right now, game-Isaac was making his way over to another elevator, where a bunch of Unitology ads greeted him. "_Daina?_" he asked skeptically, "_I thought you were routing me to residential. This looks like a…Unitology recruitment center. Am I still on track?_"

"_Yes,_" game-Daina replied, "_There's an old maintenance access point in there that will take you through the waste disposal system and into the Cassini Towers. Stay sharp._"

"Seems like the long way around," Ellie joked, "You could take all day doing that."

"I'll do it if it means getting a cure," Isaac said, taking the elevator until he stopped in a room where another Unitology ad was playing.

"_Have you ever felt like you were meant to be part of something bigger?"_ a woman's voice asked, "_Then maybe Unitology is for you. Founded two hundred years ago by our savior, Michael Altman, Unitologists believe that one day, all mankind will be united through the power of a sacred artifact known as the Marker. We call this process Convergence. Imagine it. All mankind, brought together. With one purpose. With one mind. With one soul. No war. No fear. No hate. If that sounds like an ideal world to you, then look no further. Convergence is coming. And Unitology…is helping it happen._"

Once the video was finished playing, everyone just glanced at each other. "So that's Unitology, huh?" Tiedemann asked, scoffing, "Bunch of Rock Worshippers."

"There are Unitologists in this room, you know," Mercer replied, pointing to himself and Kyne.

"Sorry," Tiedemann apologized, "But I stand by what I said."

"Oh, look, the room is decompressing!" Nicole interrupted in hope that she would be able to abate the tension forming between Mercer and Tiedemann. They didn't need another repeat of Mercer and Jacob Temple's fight over a cutscene.

"Thanks, Nicky," Isaac whispered, kissing her on the lips before closing the door in front of him and moving on to the next room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A little while later…<strong>_

"_Entering zero-gravity._"

"Here we go," Isaac said, "First zero-g environment of the game." He quickly learned the controls, and he was pleasantly surprised to see that the zero-g controls were different. He was now free to roam wherever he wanted instead of just jumping from point to point.

"This is cool!" he cried as he flew around the waste disposal for a little bit, "No restricted motion."

"You can fly!" Ellie shouted.

"I see EA made some corrections after all," Mercer muttered, nodding his head to show how impressed he was.

Game-Isaac used the environment to turn on the garbage disposal so that he could get through. He quickly learned how to accelerate and flew into a large tube so that he could finally get into the Cassini Towers.

"It's quiet," he whispered, "Too quiet."

The only thing that broke the silence was a group of Swarms, which game-Isaac easily took care of with a well-placed Line Gun bomb. He spent the rest of the time exploring the different rooms as he collected different items. At one point, he entered a room with a rotating horse lamp on the ceiling. The screen flashed orange, and everyone knew what was about to happen. "Another Nicole hallucination," Stross pointed out.

"_I'm afraid, Isaac," _game-Nicole whispered_, "I don't want to die. But it's the only way out."_

"_You're not Nicole!" _game-Isaac shouted,_ "Nicole is dead! You're not really here." _Game-Nicole remained where she was until another flash of orange made her disappear.

"Sorry my ghost is haunting you everywhere, Isaac," Nicole apologized quietly.

"It's okay," Isaac replied, "I'm sure we'll find out why this is happening soon." Game-Isaac exited through the door up ahead and entered a large room with a window that gave a rather nice view of the _Sprawl._ That view, however, was soon obstructed by a large gunship.

"_Daina!_" game-Isaac whispered into the communicator, "_Tiedemann's soldiers have found me! They're tracking me in some sort of gunship!_"

"_You're almost there!_" game-Daina said encouragingly, "_Hurry_!"

"Almost where?" Hammond asked skeptically. Everyone else shrugged.

Game-Isaac crossed into another section, where a swarm of Necromorphs attempted to slow him down. He wouldn't be deterred, however; he used all his weapons in order to take them out. When he was finished with that, he entered another big room that led right to the Church of Unitology.

In that moment, the gunship reappeared and began shooting at game-Isaac. "Damn it!" the real Isaac growled, "Stop shooting at me!"

"_It's Tiedemann!_" game-Daina cried frantically, "_He's found you! Into the Church! Hurry!_"

"Wait, what?" Isaac gasped, but the shower of bullets forced him to run.

"Why are we going to the Church of Unitology?" Stross asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No idea," Ellie muttered in response.

Once game-Isaac was inside, the air returned and he contacted game-Daina. "_Daina? The Church of Unitology? Why here?" _

"_It's one of the few places on the Titan Station that Tiedemann can't monitor,_" game-Daina explained to him, "_Separation of Church and State._"

"_No, Daina_," game-Isaac protested, "_We shouldn't be in here. This is the last place we want to be right now!_"

"_Isaac!_" game-Daina cried frantically, "_My brother died trying to rescue you! This is important. This will work. I'm in a safe room at the top of the Church. Meet me there, okay?_"

"What are you doing at the Church, Daina?" Tiedemann asked, "And who's your brother?"

"I suppose we'll see," Daina said.

"Tomorrow night," Isaac declared as he saved the game.

"Hell yeah!" Hammond, Tiedemann, and Ellie cried.

"See you then!" Stross said excitedly.


	6. Chapter Four: Feral Appearances

Righto! Next chapter of "Playing the Game 2" is here! A big thank you to everyone who's been reading this! With that in mind, here we go! :D

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The next day…<strong>_

_The afternoon could not have come any slower, _Kendra thought to herself as she rubbed her eyes. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off the computer screen all morning, and she was just setting it to Sleep Mode when someone came huffing and puffing up to her office door. "Hey, Nicole," the computer specialist greeted.

"Hi, Kendra," Nicole replied sourly, "Are you busy right now?"

"No," Kendra said, "I was just about to take my lunch break. Why?"

"Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Sure. What's going on?"

Nicole sighed again as she shut the door to Kendra's office. "It's Ellie!" she groaned, "Did you see the way she was flirting with Isaac last night? It got under my skin the whole time!"

Kendra frowned in understanding. "Oh," was all she said, "Yeah, I did notice that they were getting really close."

"And you know what makes it worse? _He was flirting right back! _He even checked her out when she first showed up at the door!There's no way he couldn't tell she was hitting on him."

"I don't know, though," Kendra said, wincing, "I don't really know her that well. That might just be her personality."

Nicole scoffed. "Yeah, right," she muttered, "I'm sorry I invited her now."

"Listen," Kendra began, sitting up in her chair, "You know that I'm happy to listen to you, but you should probably talk to Isaac about this. He can tell you if he was flirting with Ellie or not."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "_That's _why I don't want to bring it up with him," she said, "What if he's lying?"

"I'm sure he's not," Kendra responded, "He loves you, Nicole. Just remember that."

"It sure didn't seem that way last night." She buried her face into her hands, and Kendra hugged her.

"Don't get upset," she whispered, "Everything's going to be okay. You'll see."

"I hope you're right," Nicole moaned, "I just don't want anything to come between me and Isaac."

"Ellie won't. I promise."

But somehow, Nicole didn't seem so sure herself.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Later on that day…<strong>_

"Something wrong?" Isaac asked Nicole as they waited for everyone else to arrive.

The Senior Medical Officer sighed. "Isaac," she began, "I don't know how to put this nicely, but…" She didn't finish.

"But?" Isaac pressed.

"Could you maybe…_cool _it around Ellie?"

Isaac was floored. "What?" he gasped, "You think I was…flirting with Ellie?" He chuckled nervously.

"I wasn't flirting with her," he assured Nicole, "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, though."

"It just seemed like you two were getting close."

"I think that's just her personality. But don't worry. We just met. There's nothing going on."

"If you say so," Nicole muttered out of Isaac's earshot.

Once all the respective guests had arrived, Isaac picked up the controller again and announced, "Time to explore the Church of Unitology!"

"I wonder what secrets will be in here," Stross added, glancing at Daina and Ellie.

"Discovering why the hell Daina made Isaac go to the Church," Ellie replied. Isaac glanced over his shoulder and noticed that she was sitting closer to Stross and Daina. Perhaps she had picked up vibes from Nicole. _I wasn't flirting with her, _he assured himself, _I wasn't flirting with Ellie._

"Where'd we leave off?" Tiedemann asked as he helped himself to a beer.

"I found the Schematic for the Security Suit," Isaac told him.

"Security Suit?" Tiedemann replied, "Like the ones I wear to work?"

"Yeah," Kendra answered, nodding.

All ten of them watched in awe as game-Isaac stepped out of the Store in his new Security Suit, and just like with the Engineering Suit, the helmet covered his head "Iron Man" Style. "You're right, Isaac," Daina gasped in amazement, "That is pretty badass!"

Once game-Isaac finished at the Store (where he bought a Pulse Rifle) and the Bench, he saved the game one last time before retracing his steps outside once again. As he made for the stairs, a video log began.

"_Isaac!_" game-Stross cried, "_Isaac, I know you see the symbols, too! They mean something!_"

"Oh look, it's me," Stross said nonchalantly, the initial shock of seeing himself in a videogame wearing off, "I'd love to know why I killed my family in this game."

"_Stross,_" game-Isaac replied, "_Yes, I see the symbols._"

"At least you recognize me now," Stross joked.

"_After _a few video logs from you," Kyne said breezily.

"_We're a threat to them!_" game-Stross said, "_I know it! We have to work together!_"

"_Work together? Who's 'them'? You mean Tiedemann?_"

"No need to be afraid of me, you two," Tiedemann piped up, laughing a little bit.

"_Oh, my nose is bleeding?_" game-Stross asked as his nose began to bleed, "_When did that start?_"

"_Stross?_" game-Isaac replied, "_Work with me, Stross!_" But game-Stross was gone.

"Yeah, Stross," Isaac teased, "Work with me!"

"I wonder where he is, anyway," Daina said.

"Hiding out," Stross told her.

In the process, a tutorial box suddenly popped up next to game-Isaac, explaining the Advanced Navigator which could point to more than just the Objective location.

"Advanced Bread Crumbs, huh?" Isaac commented, "Let's see about that."

Sure enough, the systems engineer managed to figure out how to scroll between the different settings: blue for the Objective, orange for the Store, purple for the Bench, and green for the Save Station. "Cool!" he cried, "I like this new Bread Crumbs."

"It's much more informative than the first time around," Kendra admitted, "Now we can just use it to get to the Store and stuff."

"I may have to rely on it more now," Isaac said proudly as he switched it back to the Objective.

For the next ten to fifteen minutes, Isaac guided his game counterpart around the Church of Unitology, which was covered in candles on every part of the floor. "Were you here by any chance, Mercer?" Hammond asked, "Remember how your character placed all those candles around the ship?"

"I was there in spirit," Mercer replied in such a deadpan voice that the others began to laugh once they realized he was joking. Up ahead, a few Necromorphs dressed in Unitology robes charged forward to attack game-Isaac.

"Damn, you Unitologists have some pretty fucked up beliefs," Tiedemann commented, "No offense."

Kyne just shrugged. "None taken," he said while Mercer didn't say a word.

"I still want to know why we're here," Ellie quipped, "Or why Daina led Isaac to this place?" The real Daina shrugged.

"I have to say this is one of the creepiest locations I've ever seen in a game," Isaac said thoughtfully once he was finished taking out all the Necromorphs. He then boarded an elevator to the next floor, and once he was there, he entered another room where the same Unitology ad from before was playing.

_ "Have you ever felt like you were meant to be part of something bigger? __Then maybe Unitology is for you. Founded two hundred years ago by our savior, Michael Altman, Unitologists believe that one day, all mankind will be united through the power of a sacred artifact known as the Marker. We call this process Convergence. Imagine it. All mankind, brought together. With one purpose. With one mind. With one soul. No war. No fear. No hate. If that sounds like an ideal world to you, then look no further. Convergence is coming. And Unitology…is helping it happen.__"_

"I don't think seeing an ad with burning skulls is going to get people to join us," Kyne commented.

"That's for sure," Isaac mumbled under his breath out of everyone else's earshot. He entered a room where he manipulated a few of the control panels in order to gain access into the next room. Once he was finished with that, he returned to the main area, where the door up ahead was opening and shutting rapidly.

"Looks like it's Stasis time," Isaac announced unnecessarily.

"There's even a Stasis Recharge," Kendra pointed out, "I wonder if you'll need it for anything else."

"I hope not," Isaac said as he used Stasis to pass through the door. Once he was on the other side, the screen flashed orange, and a ghostly image of game-Nicole appeared on all the screens in the area.

"Oh, _no_," everyone, including Nicole, groaned.

_"It's so cold, Isaac," _game-Nicole whispered_, "It hurts. Where are you going? You can't run from the pain forever. Soon, you'll beg for a way to end it all." _

"This is ridiculous," Nicole grumbled once the hallucination ended, "I'm psychotic in this game." Nobody knew what to say to that, so instead, Isaac silently saved before moving on to the next room. He collected a few items before climbing into the vent up ahead. He crawled through it for the next few minutes before emerging on the other side. Out of nowhere, something suddenly grabbed his game-character.

"_Whoa!_" everyone screamed, jumping a little bit as game-Isaac's helmet fell off. In front of him, game-Nicole appeared as she tried to force a syringe into his right eye.

"_What the fuck?_" Isaac, Nicole (who rarely dropped the F-bomb), Ellie, Tiedemann, and Stross all cursed at the same time. The letter "A" appeared, signaling that the player needed to fight off the dementia.

"_Make us whole!_" game-Nicole hissed.

"What is this?" the flesh and blood Nicole gasped.

"What happens if you don't press A?" Daina asked, her voice shaking from this recent scare.

"Let's find out," Isaac decided, surprising himself with voluntarily failing to clear the quick time event. For the next few seconds, game-Isaac struggled to fight off this hallucination. However, because the real Isaac wasn't pressing A, game-Nicole eventually won as she stabbed game-Isaac in the eye.

"Oooo!" everyone cried, looking away from the screen as game-Isaac fell to the ground. Game-Nicole climbed on top of him as her eyes and mouth glowed.

"_AHHHHHH!_" she screeched just before the screen faded to black and reloaded the game.

"What the hell was that?" Stross cried, shaking from this incident.

"Was anyone else expecting that to happen?" Isaac asked, facing his friends.

"Not at all," Ellie replied, "Damn, Nicole. Why'd you kill Isaac like that?"

"No idea," Nicole mumbled, feeling a spark of annoyance towards the young pilot for the other night.

Pretty soon, the game returned game-Isaac to the last Save Station he had used to save the game, and once again, he crawled through the vent until he was face to face with game-Nicole.

"_Make us whole!_" she whispered harshly again, and this time, Isaac pressed the A button to get past the quick time event. Once he had pressed it enough, game-Nicole disappeared to reveal that game-Isaac had been holding a syringe to his eye the whole time.

"Oh my God!" Daina gasped, "You just tried to kill yourself!"

"I must have killed myself when I purposely failed the first time," Isaac replied, trembling a little bit as he watched his game-character drop the needle and stare at his hands in horror.

"Uhh," Kyne stammered, "Are you okay, Mr. Clarke?"

"I hope so," Isaac retorted once he was allowed to continue playing the game.

"Damn, Clarke," Tiedemann hissed, "I guess it's a good thing Daina's going to give you that cure."

"Think that's going to happen again?" Hammond asked worriedly.

"I hope not," Nicole answered, shivering. This was going to be a long game.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few hallways later…<strong>_

_Grrr! _"What was that?" Daina whispered as a high-pitched shrieking noise echoed through the church.

"There's something down there," Isaac answered, "But I don't want to know what." He took the elevator down anyway, arriving at the floor down below and making his way over to the door leading into the Church itself.

_Bam! _Something on the other side suddenly broke the door down, rendering it impossible to use. "That sucks," Stross groaned.

"_Daina, I'm locked out!_" game-Isaac reported, "_There's something in the Church! It broke down the door!_"

"_Hang on,_" game-Daina replied, "_I'll try to override all the gates in the area._"

Everyone heard another growling noise. "_Hurry!_" game-Isaac hissed, "_There's something out here, too!_"

"Oh God," the real Isaac whispered, feeling his hands shake as he turned his game counterpart away from the door and began to go back the way he had come.

Suddenly, something stuck out from behind one of the pillars as the shrieking got louder. "Whoa!" Tiedemann gasped, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Hammond asked.

"Something's hiding behind that pillar."

To everyone's horror, Tiedemann was right; something was there, and it didn't look like any Necromorph they had ever seen. As game-Isaac moved closer, it disappeared, and with another growl, a second Necromorph of the same type suddenly popped out and barreled towards game-Isaac with an inhuman shriek.

"AHHH!" everyone screamed as the new Necromorph slammed its head into game-Isaac and delivered damage.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Stross gasped.

"Looks like a…mix between a dog and a…human?" Ellie replied, tilting her head to the side.

"Whatever it is, it's hideous!" Nicole squealed, looking away as the Stalker disappeared once again. It peeked from around the corner just before disappearing and charging again.

"No, no, no!" Isaac shouted as he used Stasis to slow it down before dismembering it.

"_Isaac!_" game-Daina cried, "_I don't think I can-_"

"_Not now!_" game-Isaac snapped after he took more damage from another Stalker.

"This is crazy," Kyne whispered, "That's the scariest looking Necromorph I've ever seen!"

"And it's about to get even worse," Ellie added, "Look!"

On the screen, game-Isaac ran out of health as one of the Stalkers knocked him down to the ground. It shrieked in his face as he tried to hit it on the side of its head. "Uh oh," Kendra whispered.

"I can't watch," Nicole groaned as she looked away from the screen, In the moment, the Stalker used one of its claws to rip of game-Isaac's arm.

"Ouch!" Isaac cried, clutching his right arm just as the Stalker began to bash his game-character's head violently.

"_Ooooo!_" everyone squealed.

"That's awful!" Daina mused as she covered her eyes. Once the Stalker checked to make sure game-Isaac was dead, it dragged his body out of sight of the player, marking a game over.

"Holy crap," Isaac muttered as he waited for the game to reload, "Remind me never to get killed by one of those again!"


	7. Chapter Four & Five: Torment Me No More

Oh...my...God! I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry for the long gap in updating! A lot of crap has happened in the last month or so, between being caught in an earthquake and evacuating from Hurricane Irene! This just wasn't my weekend. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Thanks for being patient with me, as well as reviewing and supporting this story! Once again, I'm sorry!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>The cracking of Isaac's knuckles brought Stross back to reality as he glanced up at the screen. He had turned away as soon as game-Isaac had been brutally murdered by the Stalkers, and he thought he would throw up. "Is it over yet?" he croaked.<p>

"It's _been _over, Stross," Ellie teased, "The game's back on."

"Good," Stross sighed, shaking his head. On the screen, game-Isaac was making his way down the elevator as the screeching of the Stalkers reached his ears.

"Let's not get killed again, shall we?" Isaac asked out loud as he took the familiar path to the church doors. Just like before, something broke the door from the other end, and game-Daina announced that she would try and override all the gates. That was all the same. Isaac just hoped he wouldn't get himself killed by the Stalkers this time around.

"Good luck," Nicole whispered, patting her boyfriend's shoulder as he forced his game-character to creep down the stairs and into the wide area in front of him. Just like the first time, one of the Stalkers peered out from behind a column, disappeared, and then allowed another one to charge at game-Isaac.

"Oh, _hell _no!" Isaac growled, "You're not killing me this time!" He backed up, used Stasis in order to slow the Stalker down, and switched to the Plasma Cutter in order to dismember it. Fortunately, it went down, sending up cheers in the real Isaac's apartment.

"Thank God you're not dying," Kyne sighed in relief.

"Don't jinx it now," Daina warned in a joking manner. Kyne just pouted and focused on the game again.

"_Isaac!_" game-Daina cried, "_I don't think I can-" _

_ "Not now!" _game-Isaac snapped once again as the real Isaac attempted to avoid getting killed by the Stalkers again. So far, he seemed to be getting most of them.

"Almost there," the engineer mumbled, "And…done! Got 'em all!"

"Yay!" the others cheered.

"That was one harrowing experience," Stross commented.

"It's probably going to get worse," Nicole said to him, "Believe me."

"_Daina? Daina, are you there?_" game-Isaac whispered.

"_I can't unlock the elevator,_" game-Daina reported, "_Can you do anything from your end?_"

"_Let me see what I can do_."

"_Okay. Once you're through, you'll go through the Funerary Wing of the Church and down into the crypt. It's very important you're not…_" She trailed off there at a burst of static.

"_No_!" game-Daina snapped, "_NO! EarthGov can't jam us in here! Not in here!_"

"_Daina? Daina? Important that I what?_" But the static became too much, completely cutting off Daina's game character. Instead, the flesh and blood Isaac decided to make his game character approach the control panel, where he hacked into the elevator.

"We never did have our hacking contest, did we?" Ellie asked. In front of her, Nicole clenched her fist, but didn't comment.

"I told you," Isaac joked to relieve any possible tension, "I'm the champion."

"Then why are you letting yourself get hurt on that panel, Clarke?" Tiedemann asked, pointing to the fact that game-Isaac was running out of time to finish hacking.

"_AHH!_" game-Isaac gasped as he yanked his hand out of the panel, shook off some stray electricity, and then returned to his task.

"Sorry," Isaac apologized to his virtual self, "I'll pay attention next time." He turned back to the screen, where he retried hacking the system, this time succeeding and getting the elevator to start working again. He took it up to the floor above him again, where he found a Power Node and some ammo.

"What do you guys think so far?" Nicole asked the newcomers as they watched in silence.

"This is the weirdest experience I've ever had," Tiedemann admitted.

"I'm with Tiedemann on this one," Ellie seconded, "Seeing ourselves in this game…it's insane! Thank God I'm not there!"

"How do you know?" Hammond challenged.

"I know these things," Ellie told him, "I haven't shown up at all."

"Doesn't mean you're not there."

"Who wants to watch Mr. Clarke take out some Necromorphs?" Kyne interjected, hoping to quell the tension building between Ellie and Hammond.

"I do!" Stross cried, raising his hand into the air. The others chuckled quietly as game-Isaac moved on. He eventually found himself in the Funerary Wing, just as game-Daina had said he would, and a horde of Necromorphs in Unitology robes attacked him in the next few minutes.

"_Damn,_" Tiedemann hissed, "If that's bad, then what'll be down in the crypt?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>A little while later…<strong>_

"Here we go," Isaac announced after saving the game and beginning chapter five, "Down into the crypts."

"Good luck in there," Mercer whispered encouragingly.

"You seem to have forgotten about the complaint list, Challus," Kyne noted, staring at the still-blank notepad.

"That's because _nobody's complaining_," the scientist mused, face-palming himself.

"It's just a game," Ellie commented, "Nothing to complain about."

"You have no idea."

"AHH!" Stross and Daina suddenly screamed as the screen flashed orange and revealed some moaning corpses on the walls.

"What the hell?" Kendra cried, "Is that another hallucination?"

"Of course it is," Isaac spat, "I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!" Just like that, the hallucination ended, and the crypt returned to the way it was. The engineer shivered a little bit.

"I don't know if I like this game as much as I used to, guys," he said.

"Just keep playing, Clarke," Tiedemann ordered, "You can't quit on us now."

Isaac rolled his eyes and proceeded to break open a frozen box in order to collect the Javelin Spears in there. He then rounded the corner only to find…

"Oh, _gross_!" Daina whined as a Puker appeared out of nowhere and threw up all over game-Isaac, "That still makes me sick. How can you guys eat during that?" She gestured to Hammond and Kyne, who were both stuffing Hot Pockets in their mouths.

"We've seen worse," Hammond replied, licking his fingers. Daina just winced, and she turned back to the game just as Isaac opened the door to the next part of the level.

"_Daina?_" game-Isaac said as he tried to send a video log to game-Daina, "_I think I've found the exit, but it's way above me. Gravity controls are locked down. Daina?_" No response except for static.

"_Fuck_," game-Isaac cursed under his breath.

"Don't worry," Ellie piped up, "I'm sure Daina's around somewhere."

"And you know this for a fact?" Nicole chimed in before Isaac could get a chance to.

"_No_," the CEC pilot huffed, "But it's a guess. Why are you so annoyed anyway?"

_Oh, God, _Isaac thought, _Here we go_.

"_Because _you should just let Isaac play the game and be quiet."

"All right, enough!" the systems engineer interrupted as he lost his focus and took damage from failing to properly hack into the gravity controls, "This is supposed to be an enriching experience. Let's not spoil it."

"_Enriching_?" Nicole echoed, smiling slyly, "In more ways than one for some people?"

"Ooo," the others cooed.

"Wow, Nicole," Isaac mused, "I'm not even going to comment on that." The medical officer shrugged.

"Just the facts," she muttered, even though Isaac knew why she did it; she was still annoyed about his bantering with Ellie the previous day.

Turning his attention back to the game, Isaac finished hacking the gravity controls and used stasis in order to pull a few levers down to hold the rotating mechanism in the center in place. Once he was finished with that, the gravity in the room disappeared. "_Entering zero gravity._"

"Ya know," Kendra said, "I miss the voice from the _Ishimura_. All those announcements are always by people from the United Kingdom."

"I've noticed," Hammond added, "Being from that part of the world myself."

"Careful going through those holes, Mr. Clarke," Kyne warned.

"Thanks, Terrence," Isaac thanked him, "Though you don't always have to warn me about these things."

"You know how worried he gets about these things," Mercer cut in.

"I can't help it," Kyne insisted, "I just tend to worry."

"Well, don't," Isaac suggested. He then concentrated on getting through the different holes by using stasis in order to keep the holes open. Debris flew towards him, which he quickly dodged before continuing to fly through the openings. When he finally made it to his destination, he returned to the ground and reactivated the gravity, watching as a few corpses and other objects fell to the lower floor with a _clang._

"_Isaac?_" game-Daina called out through a video log, "_Damn it! I think they're jamming our signal with a mobile device. Someone get me the frequency on that jammer! They must have a gunship positioned near the compound!_"

"_Now what?_" game-Isaac asked, "_Change of plans?_"

"_No. If they knew where we were, they would have killed us by now. Shit! Signal's fading. Just follow your locator and hurry!_" She disappeared once again.

"Yes, m'am," Isaac said, facing the real Daina.

"I have a feeling we're going to meet very soon," Daina commented.

"I hope we do," Isaac replied, "Your character's been really helpful to me for the first five chapters of the game."

"Yes, she has," Daina agreed. Isaac moved on through the door up ahead, stopping at the Store off to the side to purchase more ammo and health packs before taking the elevator down to the church of Unitology itself. Isaac slowed his game-character's pace down to just walking as he entered the church itself.

"_Whoa!_" everyone gasped, widening his or her eyes as game-Isaac looked around at the blue light, ornate pillars and carpets, and sculptures that resembled the Marker. There was probably incense around, too, but none of them would be able to tell.

"This…is…beautiful," Daina whispered in awe.

"It is," Mercer agreed, unable to take his eyes off the screen. Seeing the Church of Unitology come to life like this…it was his dream come true, game or not.

"It's just a church, you guys," Ellie interrupted, bringing Daina and Mercer back down to Earth in a snap, "And Unitology is just a religion."

"Oh yeah?" Nicole challenged, "Then why are you wearing a Unitology bracelet?"

Ellie gasped, her hand flying down to her wrist to cover up said bracelet. Isaac paused the game as the others gasped as well and turned their gazes to Ellie. "Are you a Unitologist, Ellie?" the engineer asked, trying his best to suppress the hatred he felt towards that religion.

"No!" she replied, glaring at Nicole, "I'm not."

"Then what's with the bracelet?" Kyne asked.

Before Ellie could answer, however, something suddenly jumped over the set of stairs up ahead, and when the camera righted itself again, everyone in the room noticed it was a female Tripod!

"_Oh my God!_" all the women screamed, forgetting about Ellie and her Unitology bracelet for a minute.

"Where did _that _thing come from?" Kendra shrieked.

"I don't know, but I'm killing it _now_!" Isaac yelled, whipping out the Javelin Gun and shooting at the Tripod. Fortunately, the Necromorph seemed to back off after one shot from the Javelin Gun, and as the victory music from the first _Dead Space_ played, the Tripod turned around, jumped over the stairs, and leaped away.

"Well…" Isaac whispered, "That wasn't so bad."

He had spoken too soon, for suddenly, the camera moved away from the Tripod and onto the Pack, where one of them leaned on another banister and shrieked.

"Oh, _great_!" Isaac groaned, "Whose genius idea was it to put kid Necromorphs in this game again? That's sick!"

"Someone who had to think on the spot," Stross volunteered, shrugging as game-Isaac switched over to the Pulse Rifle and began to dismember the Pack. There were ups and downs to this fight: the downside was that game-Isaac ended up taking a lot of damage, and he often had to heal himself before continuing the battle. The upside was that he ended up collecting more health packs and ammo.

"See?" the engineer joked, "My badass self is returning. I haven't died yet!" Ellie rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Watch you end up dying after this," she said, and some of the others just smiled.

At one point, one of the Pack swiped its claws at game-Isaac, nearly killing him, but the latter recovered and shot it down, signifying the end of the battle. The flesh and blood Isaac took a deep breath as he reloaded his Pulse Rifle and decided to move on, stopping to take another look at the scenery.

"Too bad we can't stay here much longer," Mercer complained.

"Yeah," Daina whispered in response, "Too bad."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Exploders, Pukers, and a few more hallways later…<strong>_

_Screech! _"What was that?" Hammond whispered nervously, biting his fingernails as he took in the next hallway that had all sorts of Unitology writing all over it.

Isaac narrowed his eyes as he directed himself forward…only to find a legless Stalker crawling towards him! "Holy shit!" he gasped, using Stasis and then pumping the Necromorph full of lead.

"Kill it! Kill it!" Nicole shouted, "Having legs is bad enough!"

"And…there! Done!" Isaac announced.

"Thank God you got rid of it," Kendra sighed in relief, "I would have hated to see that death scene again."

Isaac just shook his head and continued forward into a larger room, where his game counterpart suddenly stopped. The screen turned orange and began to shake. "Oh, _no_," Stross hissed, "Not another hallucination!"

"_What's happening to you, Isaac?_" game-Nicole taunted in an unsympathetic voice, "_You tried to kill yourself._"

"Thanks for reminding me," Isaac thanked the real Nicole sarcastically. The Senior Medical Officer just shrugged and watched as the hallucination continued.

"_Why do you think that is? That's right. Ignore the pain. Bury it deep inside. Let me fester. Let me rot._" The screen shook a little bit more before everything returned to normal.

"Holy shit," Stross gasped, "Those are some nasty hallucinations."

"It's only going to get worse from here," Kyne warned him, "Though I hope not."

Isaac picked up the controller again and kept going, entering the elevator in the corner of the room and taking it up to the top of the church. "_Daina?_" game-Isaac asked, "_You still with me? I've reached the top of the church._"

"_You're almost here,_" game-Daina answered, "_I'll be waiting by the shuttle._"

"Yay!" Daina cheered, "We're getting out of here!"

And with that, Isaac picked up the pace and made himself collect some more ammo, as well as save the game, before moving to his destination.

"This is it," Stross announced. And with that, everyone fell silent so that he or she wouldn't miss anything.

Game-Isaac opened the door leading to Daina's safe house when suddenly…

"_What the hell?_" Isaac, Hammond, Stross, Ellie, Nicole, and Daina shouted at the same time as two men grabbed Isaac's game-character by the arms. In front of him, game-Daina calmly kept her back turned on the scene.

"_Daina!_" game-Isaac shouted.

"What?" Kyne spluttered, "What's going on?"

"_You're a Unitologist_!" game-Isaac gasped, putting some puzzle pieces together, "_Of course you are! Why did I trust you?_"

"_Well, you didn't have a choice, Isaac_," game-Daina replied in a cold voice, "_I told you there was a cure and you came running._"

"_What the fuck?_" everyone screamed this time.

"You traitor!" Hammond shouted, pointing a finger at Daina, whose mouth was hanging open in horror. She didn't know what to say to all this.

"You're a Unitologist?" Isaac asked in surprise, "Why didn't you say anything when you introduced yourself?" Daina shrugged.

"_Why are you doing this?_" Isaac demanded, "_Why can't everyone just leave me alone, huh?_"

Turning around, game-Daina narrowed her eyes at game-Isaac. "_You're a dangerous secret, Isaac_," she explained, "_EarthGov won't leave you alone because they're afraid you'll destroy their Marker. After all, you did build it._"

"Oh…my…God," Daina whispered under her breath, "I'm not evil. Why is the game making me evil?"

"You're Kendra 2.0," Isaac said to her, "That's what I'm going to call you. Kendra 2.0."

"Gee, thanks, Isaac," Kendra piped up, remembering how her character had betrayed Isaac as well.

"_What are you talking about?_" game-Isaac demanded.

"_Well, that's why we brought you here_," game-Daina continued, "_To build Markers for us. To spread glorious Convergence to the entire galaxy._"

"_You people are unbelievable_!" game-Isaac snapped, "_Just give me the fucking cure and let me go!_"

"_Oh, we don't want to cure you, Isaac_," she purred, stroking his chin, "_We need that precious little head of yours just the way it is._"

"Damn, Isaac," Hammond commented, "You don't seem to have any good luck with women, do you?"

"You're telling me," Isaac grumbled as game-Daina shook her head and walked back to the window by the shuttle.

"_Now, would you escort Isaac to the shuttle and put him in stasis?_" she ordered, stopping to face the others, "_The last thing we want is for him to die._"

"Like _that _makes me feel any better," Isaac mused, "That you don't want to kill me."

"I…have nothing to say about this," Daina announced.

"It's about to get even better," Ellie commented sarcastically, "Look!"

On the screen, an EarthGov gunship suddenly appeared and began to shoot at everyone, breaking the glass. "_AHH!_" game-Daina screamed as a shower of bullets hit her in the chest, killing her instantly.

"_NO!_" Daina screamed, covering her eyes, "I just _died_!"

"Ooooo!" everyone cried as game-Isaac kicked the other two men out the same window.

"Daina!" Stross yelled.

"I can't believe I just died!" Daina gasped.

Game-Isaac fell to the floor as he began to move towards the vacuum of space as well. He grabbed onto a bar behind him at the last minute, initiating a quick time event. "Button mash!" Hammond cried.

"I am! I am!" Isaac yelled in response, hammering the A button until his game character managed to fall through a hole in the floor and avoid the rest of EarthGov's bullets.

"Thank God you're still alive," Nicole sighed, taking a few deep breaths to calm down.

The gang, however, seemed to have a knack for speaking too soon, for suddenly, a rather large Necromorph that looked like a cross between a Brute and a Tripod suddenly flew out of the corner of the screen and landed in front of game-Isaac. It growled and then roared right in game-Isaac's face.

"_What…the fuck…is that thing?"_ Isaac exclaimed, widening his eyes as a few others screamed at the sheer size of the Tormentor.

"Now _that _is a huge Necromorph!" Kyne gasped, holding his hand up to his chest.

Game-Isaac screamed and sprinted out of the way of the Tormentor's attacks, but not before it grabbed him and attempted to bite his head off. "Let me go!" Isaac screamed, taking his Line Gun and shooting all the weak spots. The Tormentor roared again and began to shake him all around as the latter continued to shoot.

"I can't watch!" Nicole groaned, closing her eyes and looking away. Once Isaac was finished with the first part of the battle, the Tormentor picked him up and threw him across the room, placing him in front of a door with a Kinesis symbol on it. The Tormentor limped on its other limbs as it plowed towards game-Isaac.

"Holy shit!" Kendra and Hammond shrieked as Isaac slowed down the Necromorph and then used Kinesis to open the door. Everyone watched with open mouths and a stunned silence as game-Isaac avoided the Tormentor, as well as EarthGov's assault.

"This just isn't my day, is it?" Isaac muttered as the Tormentor stomped towards the window, raised its arm, and knocked game-Isaac into space. All the people in the room felt like their eyes were about to pop out of their sockets due to the scene in front of them.

On the screen, game-Isaac landed on the gunship, but so did the Tormentor. As Isaac's game-counterpart tried to float away, the Necromorph grabbed him and shook him around. "Shoot it!" Nicole cried.

Isaac made himself switch to the Plasma Cutter before shooting some explosives on the gunship, destroying both it and the Tormentor before forcing the screen to go white for a few seconds. When it cleared, game-Isaac screamed as he flew through a window and back onto the _Sprawl, _and as the air returned, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as his or her heart rates began to slow down.

"Holy crap," Stross whispered, "That was terrifying!"

"Look, we got an achievement!" Ellie announced, pointing at the screen. Isaac leaned forward to read what it said.

"_Torment Me No More._"


	8. Chapter Six: Totally Unexpected

All right! Here's the next chapter of _Playing the Game 2_! I'm so sorry for the long wait, too. A lot's been happening lately and I just didn't have it in me to write anything humorous. But now that some of the drama has died down, I've gotten the humorous side back again, and I'm here with this next chapter! Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>At first, nobody could think of what to say as soon as the fight scene with the Tormentor finished, but then Hammond was the one to break the silence.<p>

"That…was _badass!_" he cried, pumping his fist into the air.

"You really think so?" Tiedemann asked, "I thought it was too short. A boss like that should have been longer."

Isaac smirked. "Well, let's just be thankful my character didn't die," he said, picking up the controller again just as Chapter Six started and a video log popped up in front of game-Isaac.

"_Isaac!_" game-Stross began, "_Isaac, are you there? Can you hear me?_"

"If it isn't one psycho after another," Ellie commented, earning a death glare from the real Stross.

"That wasn't funny," he said, and Ellie just shrugged.

"_What do you want, Stross?_" game-Isaac asked, "_Look, it's over. All my plans just blew out the window._"

From next to Hammond and Tiedemann, Kendra started cracking up, and everyone looked at her as if she was an unfamiliar Necromorph.

"What?" she asked innocently, "You've gotta love the pun there!"

"It is very clever," Kyne agreed.

"_No, no, no, NO!_" game-Stross insisted, "_It's not over. At least, not yet. Isaac. Isaac, we built it. We can tear it down!_"

"_You mean the Marker?_" game-Isaac questioned, "_Do you know where the Marker is, Stross?_"

"_It's…it's in the Government Sector! The Government Sector! But we have to move now! Now! Now, now, NOW! Because time is running out for me…us._"

"_Stross!_" game-Isaac yelled, "_Stross! Where are you going? Shit!_" Game-Stross went offline from there, leaving Isaac's counterpart on his own.

"Yeah, Stross," Mercer piped up, "Where are you going?"

"To the computer," Stross announced, getting up, "I want to see this _Dead Space _Wiki you were talking about before."

"You really want to see it?" Kyne insisted, "Are you _sure?_"

"Who could know more about all of us than us?" Ellie asked, getting up to follow him.

"Guys!" Isaac whined, "Can't we just play the game and forget about that page?"

"No way!" Daina cried, standing up as well, "You can't bring up something like that and then not talk about it!"

"But I think we should play the game!" Isaac insisted, "Honestly!"

"Sorry, Isaac," Ellie apologized, "You've lost on this one."

Isaac sighed. "Fine," he growled, throwing the controller down, "Let me start the computer up."

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few minutes later…<strong>_

Isaac rubbed his eyes, which were beginning to go a little dry as he stared at his computer screen and surfed the internet until he found the _Dead Space _Wiki once more. The last time he and his friends needed it was when they had been stuck on the asteroid level in chapter seven of the first _Dead Space._

"All right, we're in!" the engineer announced, "This is the home page!"

Ellie, Stross, Daina, and Tiedemann all widened their eyes in shock as they studied the website. "Where are our pages?" Stross asked, "Are we on here?"

"Probably," Nicole muttered, "All of us have pages."

"I'm going to type my name in here," Stross decided, doing so in the search bar. Once he was finished with that, he watched in amazement as his page loaded, first with a picture of him clutching himself, and then a few sections about the incident on the _USG O'Bannon. _

"What's that?" Hammond croaked, "The _USG O'Bannon_? I've never heard of that ship."

"Neither have we," Isaac agreed, "This looks like it took place between the first game and this one."

All of a sudden, Tiedemann frowned as he read another paragraph of information. "Damn, Stross," he commented, "According to your page, you're an unfaithful asshole."

"What?" Stross spat, "What are you talking about?"

"Take a look at this paragraph," Tiedemann pointed out, "Apparently, you were having an affair with some woman named Isabel Cho."

"_What?_" the others cried, leaning in closer to the computer screen to read more about this scandalous information.

"I am not cheating on Alexis!" Stross insisted, "I love my wife. I love my son!"

"According to this, you don't," Mercer pointed out, "I can help you fix that…" Everyone watched as the Unitologist slowly pushed the still empty pad and pen that was meant for the complaint list towards the frazzled scientist.

Stross narrowed his eyes as he pushed the pad away from him. "Get that out of my face," he growled.

"It gets worse," Ellie piped up, "Apparently, you went crazy after coming in contact with a shard from the Marker and hallucinated your wife and son as Necromorphs. And that's why…" She looked away as Stross clenched his fists.

"_Fuck_!" he cursed, "Are you serious? That's why I murdered my family in the game?"

"Looks like it," Daina said, "It wasn't your fault, then."

Stross sighed.

"Let's get back to the game," Kendra suggested, "We'll come back to look at this page later when we've played through more of the game."

"Good idea," Kyne agreed, and Isaac powered down the computer as everyone traipsed back over to the Xbox 360. After taking their places, everyone watched as Isaac resumed the game and checked Bread Crumbs in order to see which way he needed to go.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few minutes later…<strong>_

"Hey, this is all starting to look familiar," Isaac noted as he directed himself over to an elevator, "Where'd I end up?"

"Hopefully, somewhere where you can escape," Stross said hopefully. Game-Isaac rounded the corner and spotted an elevator in the corner, but before he could get on, a video log popped up in front of him, revealing game-Stross.

"Good thing I'm there," Stross commented, "So that you're not alone, Isaac."

"Thanks, Stross," Isaac thanked him, smiling as game-Stross began to speak.

"_Isaac!_" he began, "_They were afraid of us after the sessions! I remember! They took us to the machine! For our sessions! For the steps!_"

"_I don't remember any…sessions,_" game-Isaac retorted.

"_You're lucky you don't remember_," game-Stross assured him, "_When you do, he starts coming back_."

"_Who?_" game-Isaac asked, "_Who comes back? Who?_"

"Tiedemann?" Daina guessed, tilting her head to the side.

"Who knows?" Ellie sighed, wiping her forehead as she watched game-Stross look away from Isaac's digital counterpart and towards something invisible. His facial expression instantly changed.

"_Oh, look at you,_" he cooed, "_You've grown up so much! Where are you going?_" With that, he began to run away.

"_Stross, don't follow him!_" game-Isaac warned, "_He's not really there!_" Game-Stross just ignored him and continued to chase after an apparent hallucination of his son.

"What the hell?" Stross mumbled, "I hope I'm not going to be one of those unreliable contacts."

"At the rate we're going…" Tiedemann mumbled, but didn't finish once Stross gave him the evil eye.

"You have a scary evil eye," Kendra mused, "You know that, Nolan?"

Stross shuddered. "Alexis tells me the same thing," he quipped, "_God_, I'm not insane. You all know that."

"According to the game, you're batshit crazy," Hammond pointed out.

"Thank you, Hammond," Stross thanked him sarcastically. With that, everyone settled back as Isaac continued to play through _Dead Space 2._ Just like in the Church of Unitology, there were candles everywhere, and as Isaac retraced his steps from earlier in the game, he suddenly remembered where he was.

"This is on the way to the Concourse!" he realized, "And then back to where that tram crashed!"

"_What?_" the others gasped.

"How the hell did you end up back there?" Kyne asked dubiously.

"Well, there was nowhere else in the game to go after the Church," Nicole explained matter-of-factly, "It makes sense."

After climbing onto the elevator and descending to the floor below him, game-Isaac made his way through the area just outside the Church as more Necromorphs appeared out of nowhere to attack him.

"Oh, _no!_" Isaac, Nicole, Kendra, Hammond, Kyne, and Mercer all groaned as the Pregnant slowly waddled towards Isaac's game counterpart before picking up speed.

"What?" Tiedemann asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

"I hate Pregnants," Isaac moaned, "They're Necromorphs where if you hit them in the belly, Swarms appear and try to eat you alive."

"Oh my God!" Daina cried, covering her mouth, "Too much details, Isaac!"

Isaac shrugged noncommittally. "Hey, you asked," was all he said, "I'm not going to demonstrate the Swarms, though. They really eat up your health."

"And we don't want _that _to happen," Ellie piped up. Isaac shook his head in agreement.

Once all the Pregnants, Pukers, Leapers, and Slashers in the area were taken care of, Isaac reloaded all his weapons and decided to go over to the Store. There was a weapon he had been wanting to buy for a while now, and he decided to trade his Javelin Gun for it.

"What are you doing, Clarke?" Tiedemann asked.

"Buying a Detonator," Isaac explained, "It might come in handy later."

"I wish some of these weapons were in the first game," Nicole said wistfully, "That would have been pretty cool."

"I like the weapons here, though," Stross added, "There are some things here I didn't even realize could be used as weapons."

"Yeah, like the Plasma Cutter," Isaac said, "That's pretty cool."

After he was finished at the Store, Isaac checked Bread Crumbs to make sure he was going the right way. To his relief, he was.

"These hallways are so creepy," Daina whispered, shaking a little bit as she tucked her knees into her chest. She, Mercer, and Stross huddled closer together as Isaac entered some dimly lit hallways next.

_Ooo! Urgh! _"What the hell was that?" Nicole whispered, feeling her heart beat faster now.

"No idea," Isaac mumbled, forcing himself to raise the Plasma Cutter in front of him as he crept through the next area.

As he continued to move along, the grunting got louder, and before he could even react, Isaac heard a high-pitched squealing noise and saw something explode and deliver damage. "_AHH!_" game-Isaac screamed as he fell to the ground and then picked himself up again.

"…the fuck?" the real Isaac muttered, "I didn't even see where that came from! Did you guys?"

"No," Daina, Hammond, Kendra, and Kyne answered.

"Invisible Necromorphs?" Tiedemann suggested.

Now Isaac was the one that gave him an evil eye. "Don't even say that!" he growled, "That's the _last _thing we need right now."

"I wouldn't be surprised if anything like that ended up appearing," Ellie added.

"Not you too!" Isaac cried, but as he continued through this area, he found himself taking damage from another explosion not unlike the first one.

"God damn it!" he cursed, "_What _is hurting me so badly like this?"

Nobody had an answer for him, except for Mercer when game-Isaac finally moved a little bit further. "There's something on the floor over there!" he cried, pointing at a small pod that was moving its tiny tentacles as it groaned as usual.

"_What?_" Isaac spat, "_That _thing? I didn't even see that the other two times!"

"It's such a small Necromorph," Kyne said, "It would have been impossible. Don't worry, Mr. Clarke. None of us saw them either."

"That makes me feel a _whole _lot better," Isaac said, even though he meant what he said. Now that he realized there were small Necromorphs that were shooting things up at him, he used his Plasma Cutter to take them out, all while maintaining his distance. After Pukers, Pregnants, and Stalkers, these ones were his next least favorite.

He made sure to slow down his pace as he looked for more of those small pods, and after a while, he managed to find all of them and neutralize them. With that, he immediately ran over to the Save Station and saved before regaining himself and moving on. As soon as he opened the double doors to the next area, the first thing he noticed was a blazing fire just up ahead. "Things can never be easy for me, can they?" Isaac whispered just as an announcement began to play.

"_Warning,_" a voice warned, "_Fire suppression system malfunction. Please manually deplete the oxygen supply to contain the fire. Non-essential personnel should leave the area at once._"

"Let's get to it!" Isaac cried, and with that, he used the zero-gravity environment to his advantage as he began to fly around the room, using Kinesis to pull three different batteries out. As he did that, the fire slowly began to die down.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Daina asked, pointing at a floating Audio Log not too far away from the last battery game-Isaac needed to pull out.

"Looks like an audio log," Isaac said, using Kinesis to drag it towards himself. After he picked it up, he began to play it, and a woman's voice poured out of the speakers.

"_I hope you're happy,_" the voice snapped, "_I never wanted to come here, but you had to drag us to this shithole! And now look what's happened. My baby girl turned into…something…I had to…how could you…how could you leave us alone? Do you hear me? I HAD TO KILL MY BABY GIRL!_"

"Oh my God!" everyone gasped just as the recording ended.

"That…is seriously fucked up," Ellie whispered, "This whole _game _is!"

Nobody could argue with that, and after that was finished, game-Isaac pulled out the last battery, successfully suppressing the fire and turning the whole room into a vacuum. He quickly ran towards the exit, taking out some Lurkers along the way before exiting the vacuum and arriving next to an elevator. In front of him was a fried battery, where he realized he would have to go back _out _into the vacuum to retrieve one of the others.

"Aww, _damn_!" Isaac groaned, though he didn't really mean it as he quickly reentered the vacuum, picked up another battery, and used it to get the elevator back to working order. After picking up some supplies in that same room, he pressed the appropriate button to get the elevator to open.

"AHH!" Kendra and Daina screamed as a Puker threw up all over game-Isaac. However, they weren't the only ones screaming; Isaac had as well, in a pitch that he hardly recognized as his own.

"Isaac!" Nicole gasped in shock, "I never knew you could scream like that!"

"I wasn't expecting that Puker to be in the elevator," Isaac reasoned, though he was shaking a little bit as he forced his game character onto the elevator and went up to the next floor. Once he was there, he saved the game before going on the next elevator down to the floor below.

"_Isaac,_" game-Stross suddenly began out of nowhere, "_The steps. He wants me to follow the steps._"

"Who?" the real Stross questioned. Nobody had an answer for him.

"_Step one: crawl into the dark machine…_"

"_Stross, calm down_," game-Isaac tried to say as soothingly as possible, "_He can't hurt you_!"

"_He wants me to go into the dark machine, Isaac. I can't go. She's in there. She's waiting for me._"

"Who?" Stross repeated, "Alexis?" Once he didn't get an answer again, he sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Who else, I guess," he added.

"Don't sweat it, Stross," Hammond said encouragingly.

"_Stross…_" game-Isaac began, but didn't finish.

"_Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God…_"

"Sheesh," Ellie mused, "Paranoid, much?"

"Apparently," Tiedemann answered, "Poor Stross."

"Thanks for the pity," Stross thanked everyone else.

"_Stross, listen to me!_" game-Isaac shouted, "_You need to keep moving. Can you get to the train? Can you do that?_"

Game-Stross didn't reply at first, but then, he whispered, "_He's coming. Can't talk…_" The message cut off there, and game-Isaac continued on his way, entering the area where the tram had exploded back in chapter two. Upon noticing the crates in front of him, the flesh and blood Isaac suddenly got a bad feeling in his stomach.

"I don't like this set up," he declared, "I'm going to set some traps. Just in case."

"Whatever you think you need to do, Clarke," Tiedemann retorted, leaning back and stretching his arms over his head. Game-Isaac headed downstairs and immediately noticed the Stasis Recharge in front of him.

"That's definitely not a good sign," Kyne whispered.

"When has it ever been?" Hammond joked, and everyone fell silent as game-Isaac crept forward, listening to the sound of the Stalkers moving around and waiting for him to move into their line of sight. While they did that, Isaac shot a few mines in specific places and watched as they formed blue lines across the crates, effectively setting a trap for the Stalkers. Once he was finished with that, he tiptoed over to the Stasis Recharge and refilled on that as well.

_Boom! _"AHH!" the girls and a few of the guys screamed as one of the Stalkers accidentally walked into the path of one of the detonator mines and exploded, dying on impact.

"Wow," Tiedemann gasped, "Good strategy there, Clarke."

"Thanks," Isaac thanked him, beaming as he heard more Stalkers kill themselves with the mines he had placed.

"OH SHIT!" Ellie suddenly cursed, and Isaac whirled around just as his game character took damage from a legless Stalker!

"OH MY GOD!" Isaac screamed, using Stasis to slow down the Necromorph before finally killing it for good.

"Is it me," Stross piped up, "Or are they much faster _without _legs?"

"Can't argue with that," Kendra said, "I agree with you."

Isaac took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he checked to make sure all the Stalkers were dead before continuing. Once the area was clear, he made his way over to another control panel that he had to hack in order to open the door in front of him. The next hallway was also dimly lit, and he slowly crept through it as game-Stross got in touch with him again.

"_Isaac?_" he stammered, "_He's gone. Listen, the steps can destroy the Marker. Step 1: crawl into the dark machine. Step 2: the screws go tight, all around…_"

"_I don't understand_," game-Isaac commented in a confused tone of voice.

"_Oh, God, he's back!_" game-Stross gasped, "_NO! No, no, no, no!_" The audio log ended again.

"What the hell kind of steps are those?" Nicole wondered, "I don't think I'll want to go through those."

"Me neither," Isaac agreed, picking up the controller again and directing himself up to the Concourse. What he ended up finding in that area shocked everyone in the room.

"_Come on, you motherfuckers!_" a very familiar voice cursed in a taunting manner.

"Oh my God," Ellie gasped, widening her eyes as her mouth hung open in shock.

"It can't be," Daina also whispered.

"_Ellie!_" everyone cried in unison.


	9. Chapter Six: Playing Nice

Here we go! Next chapter! Thanks again for all the reviews! :D Just a quick note from this chapter on: I do not hate Nicole. Anything that may come across as Nicole-bashing is completely unintentional. She's not one of my favorite characters, but I don't hate her with a passion, either. Just thought I'd put that out there, in case anyone thinks I'm trying to bash.

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p><em>Great, <em>Nicole thought bitterly to herself, _As if having Ellie around in real life wasn't bad enough. Now she's in the game, too! _She just placed her chin in her hand and sighed, hoping that Isaac wouldn't notice how annoyed she looked.

"Ellie," Tiedemann piped up, "You being here was a spoiler. You know that, right?"

"Shut up," Ellie laughed tentatively, even though she was still shocked to see herself in the game. Everyone was.

"You're taking care of yourself, girl," Kendra complimented, smiling as game-Ellie raised her Plasma Cutter and took out the Slashers all around her in one shot.

At the same time, a few Necromorphs popped out of nearby vents to attack game-Isaac, and while the real Isaac fought against them, game-Ellie continued to taunt the Necromorphs around her. "_I'm still standing!_" she cried, reloading the Plasma Cutter and taking on a couple more Slashers.

"Go Ellie!" Hammond cheered, pumping his fist into the air again as Ellie smiled to herself. At least they got her fighting spirit right.

"She's just as badass as Isaac," Kendra agreed. In the front, Nicole only narrowed her eyes.

"_Yeah, come on!_" game-Ellie taunted, "_You like this! Come and get it! Come on, I know there's more of you._" At this point, it didn't look like there would be anymore Necromorphs appearing any time soon, so Isaac decided to direct himself over to Ellie's digital counterpart…who suddenly whirled around and fired her Plasma Cutter in his direction.

"Whoa, watch it!" Nicole warned in a sharp voice, "You almost hit him!" Ellie glared at the Senior Medical Officer.

"_Hey, hey!_" game-Isaac shouted, holding up his hands in defense as game-Ellie pointed the Plasma Cutter at him.

"_You!_" game-Ellie snapped, "_Stay back! You wanna talk? You talk from there!_"

"Holy shit, Ellie," Stross gasped, "You're pretty scary."

Right after that, Ellie's game counterpart sent a video log to game-Isaac. "_And don't say you're here to help,_" she snapped, "_The last person who said that tried to kill me._"

"I wonder who that could have been," Ellie said thoughtfully as everyone else shrugged.

"_Take it easy_," Isaac's game counterpart said as calmly as possible, "_I'm not going to hurt you._"

"_Yeah, you got that right,_" game-Ellie replied, "_You try it, and you're dead._" She stopped the video log, and everyone just gasped.

"Damn," Daina whispered, "Remind me not to catch you on a bad day."

"Oh, I'm not _that_ bad," Ellie conceded. Following that tense exchange, game-Isaac approached her and removed his helmet as she began to hack the control panel in front of him.

"_Look_," he began, "_I think we got off to a bad start here. I'm Isaac._"

Game-Ellie turned around and sighed. "_Ellie_," she replied, "_What do you want, Isaac?_"

"_I'm trying to get to the Transport Hub_," game-Isaac explained, "_I need to get to the Government Sector._"

Game-Ellie now turned around and faced him completely. "_What do you think we were trying to do?_" she asked, gesturing to the bodies all around her, suggesting that she hadn't been the only one fighting the Necromorphs in this area.

"What business could you have in the Government Sector, Miss Langford?" Kyne wondered, tilting his head to the side.

"No idea," Ellie mumbled.

"_Hey, I can help you_," game-Isaac coaxed, "_Besides, we've got a better chance if we stick together. Don't you agree?_"

"_Not a chance, Isaac_," game-Ellie replied, walking over to him, "_Other people are just a liability_."

"Ouch, Ellie," Isaac said, wincing.

Ellie felt her face turn red. "I…don't really feel like that," she mumbled.

"_I'll release the door lock._ _But after that, you're on your own. And please, don't follow me. Okay?_" She then backed into the elevator and pushed the button to close the door.

"_Wait…wait!_" game-Isaac shouted, but it was too late. Game-Ellie was already gone.

"That hurts, Ellie," Isaac joked, holding a hand up to his heart, "Really." The pilot smirked and punched him across the shoulder.

"Very funny," she replied. As she leaned back, however, she caught the look on Nicole's face and frowned. Ellie wasn't oblivious; she knew Nicole thought she and Isaac were flirting, which really wasn't the case. _Hmm, _she thought, rubbing her chin with her hands.

Isaac sighed as he picked up the controller again and made himself get on the elevator to descend to the floor below him. Once he was at his destination, he checked Bread Crumbs to see where he had to go next. "Looks like we're heading into the elementary school next," the engineer announced.

"Let's do this!" Kendra cried as Isaac proceeded to take out the Necromorphs in this area, including those pods that Mercer had pointed out before.

"At least you're not getting hurt from those this time," the Unitologist commented.

"Yeah, thank God," Isaac replied, "Now that I can see them."

Just like that, he finished vanquishing all the enemies before be backtracked to the Save Station and saved, just in case. Taking a deep breath, he directed his game character over to the Titan Elementary School, pressing the appropriate button on the controller to go inside.

The atmosphere instantly changed; instead of the walls being dark like in all the other places, these ones were brightly lit and covered in decorations clearly made by children. The music also changed, instead playing a melancholy piece more suited for an abandoned daycare environment.

"Oh my God," Isaac whispered, "This is horrible."

"Shh!" Kyne shushed him, "Listen. Did you hear that?"

Isaac quieted down in time to hear the distant sound of babies crying. "What the hell?" he muttered, moving to the corner and picking up a med pack that was on the floor.

"I'm not even going to ask," Nicole whispered, "I'm freaking out already."

Game-Isaac reloaded all his weapons and made his way through the next hallway, where the crying babies got louder. To his left was a window that looked into a classroom, and inside, there was a woman situated on her knees as she beckoned to a baby Necromorph with a yellow bulb on its back. "Eww!" Kendra squealed, "Baby Necromorphs? Who the hell came up with that idea?"

It only got worse from there. "_Come to momma!_" the woman cooed, "_Yes, yes, that's it! Come to momma. Oh, right up there. Oh, oh! Yes. There you go…_" The Crawler squealed as it launched itself into her arms and stayed there for a few seconds. After that, it suddenly exploded in a flash of red.

"_AHH!_" game-Isaac screamed.

"OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK?" everyone in the room shrieked as well, covering his or her eyes.

"I did not see that coming at all!" Hammond gasped, clutching his chest, "What the hell?"

"Exploding babies?" Stross also cried, "That's sick!"

After taking a few deep breaths, Isaac continued to play, moving through the hallway until he was standing outside a door leading into another classroom. "_Okay, everyone!_" a sugary voice announced out of nowhere, "_Fifteen minutes for recess! Play nice!_"

Everyone's mouths dropped open in shock and dread. "That…is _sick_!" Tiedemann commented, unable to take his eyes off the screen.

"There is something very creepy about that," Kyne agreed, nodding. They all watched as game-Isaac entered the next room…only to be ambushed by more of those Crawlers.

"Watch out!" Nicole cried, and Isaac switched to the Pulse Rifle in order to take care of all of them. One by one, they exploded at a far enough distance where they wouldn't hurt the digital version of Isaac.

"This is so wrong," Ellie whispered, shaking her head once the assault was over. She just fell silent as game-Isaac picked up some ammo and continued onward. Along the way, he managed to collect a few text logs, which he decided to read before moving on.

"_TEACHER REPORT: 3rd semester 381-3_

_I know __kids__ are supposed to have a vivid imagination, but this is getting ridiculous. Nearly half of my class has imaginary friends now, claiming that it's their deceased grandmother or something. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but it's getting harder and harder to get these kids to concentrate this semester. I've sent more students to the time out chair than I have in all my twelve years of teaching. Maybe these kids are having trouble at home. I've also noticed parental involvement steadily decreasing this semester. _

_-Walter Blake  
>Third Grade Educational Instructor<em>"

_ "_Poor kids," Kyne sighed, shaking his head, "I can't believe that happened to them."

Isaac took a deep breath as he entered the nurse's office in order to save the game. "_Remember, colds and flu spread fast in space!_" a voice announced, "_Be sure your children's vaccinations are always up to date! See a nurse today!_"

"God damn it," Mercer cursed, "Why are all those voices so…so…"

"Happy all the time?" Daina finished for him as she smirked, "I know, right?"

"Makes you want to punch them in the face," Tiedemann agreed, cracking his knuckles and making Nicole and Kendra flinch, "Like with me in the supermarket the other day! I was at the self-checkout, and the voice kept reminding me to remove all my groceries from the bagging area. She was way too nice about it."

"Oh, that's nice, Tiedemann," Ellie replied, and Tiedemann shrugged as Isaac saved the game and then picked up another text log, this time from the school nurse.

"_The __kids__ are playing way too rough on the playground! Yesterday, I literally had a line of students with scrapes and bruises going out my office door. A few kids sustained injuries bad enough to need to go to the infirmary. Call me old fashioned, but I think this is the problem with kids growing up on a space station. Kids need a planet with fresh air and open ground to play on. Otherwise, they go stir crazy and start picking on each other. Space is no place to raise a family, if you ask me._"

"Doesn't sound like it if the kids are going crazy," Hammond said, leaning in closer to Kendra.

"I'm never living in space," Isaac declared, "I've called it." He took a deep breath and continued into the next hallway…where the screen turned orange as the lockers suddenly burst open.

"AHH!" Stross screamed, jumping in the air and unintentionally grabbing onto Ellie.

"Sorry," he apologized, "That freaked me out."

"You're not the only one," Daina whispered, and after that hallucination, game-Isaac entered the gym, where the Pack, as well as a few Pukers, attacked him. He was forced to go behind the bleachers in order to reach the stage, since there were tables blocking his way. Behind the bleachers was another Enhanced Puker, and once he got around that, game-Isaac made his way over to the stage just as a more cheerful song played through a sound system.

"That song is so not fit for _Dead Space_," Daina commented.

"Sounds like something out of a sappy musical," Hammond agreed, and the others nodded, falling silent as Isaac plowed through the game. He rounded the corner, and then made another sharp turn before…

"_AHH!_" game-Isaac gasped as he threw his hand up and turned away from a hanging sun decoration that had a huge smile painted on its face.

"AHH!" the real Isaac also cried, jumping a little bit, for that was the last thing he expected to happen.

Suddenly, in the back, Mercer burst out laughing as he clutched his sides. "What the fuck's gotten into you?" Stross asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's priceless," the Unitologist replied once he managed to calm himself down, "Necromorphs try to kill him, and he has deadly hallucinations. Sure, no problem. A piece of cardboard, on the other hand…"

Hammond started cracking up from where he was, too. "He's right, Isaac," he agreed, "You just jumped at a smiling sun decoration! You better run for the hills!"

"You guys are not funny," Isaac replied, though he could feel the sides of his mouth twitching, almost as if he wanted to laugh himself. Suddenly, he began to chuckle, which eventually spread to the rest of the group as the others couldn't contain themselves.

"I can't believe we're laughing at this," Kyne wheezed, "It's not even funny. It's probably supposed to show that Isaac's paranoid."

"Yeah," Daina said, "But how many people do you think jumped at this part while playing the game?"

"Probably everyone," Kendra answered for her, "But once the scare factor wears off and you really think about it…" Kyne just shrugged and settled back to watch more of the game.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hacking into the gym stage and battling the Pack and some Pukers later…<strong>_

Isaac shook his right hand out after dealing with the latest attack from the Necromorphs in the gym. "This is the last chapter I'm doing for the night," he decided, "My hands are getting tired now."

"Good idea," Nicole agreed, gently caressing her boyfriend's left hand as he took a break for a minute or two. Once he was feeling better, he picked up the controller again and explored a few more rooms, finding the schematic for the flamethrower along the way.

_RING!_ "_Recess is over!_" the same woman announced, making everyone jump at the loud bell.

_ "_Maybe now there won't be any more Necromorphs," Isaac said hopefully as he crossed into a playroom with a bunch of toys scattered on the ground.

_ "_Hey, there's a Power Node!" Kendra cried, "See if you can get it!"

Nodding, Isaac was getting ready to use Kinesis when the screen suddenly turned orange. "Oh, no!" Nicole groaned just as a bloody hallucination of her showed up. She stood right in front of game-Isaac as she periodically pushed the merry go round in front of her.

_"Still in denial?" _she snarled_, "Afraid you're going to cut your wrists if you listen to me?" _

"Geez," Ellie commented, "That was a little melodramatic."

_ "I'm not listening to this," _game-Isaac replied_, "You may fool Stross, but I know you're not real." _

_ "Oh, you claim I'm not real, and yet here I am." _

_ "You're just a hallucination! Stross knows how to destroy you! He knows how to destroy the Marker! We will destroy you!" _

Game-Nicole laughed_. "How convenient," _she replied_, "Destroy the Marker, and all the hurt and pain go away. Imagine it, Isaac. You'll never have to listen to your heart." _And in a flash of light, she was gone until all game-Isaac was staring at was a blank wall_._

"Damn," Isaac muttered, "I don't know what I did, but I hope we find out soon."

"I don't like how evil I am," Nicole whispered. Game-Isaac retrieved the Power Node on the opposite side of the room before heading over to the elevator in the corner of the room. The ride down to the level below was surprisingly long, which gave Isaac's game character enough time to receive a surprise video log.

"_Isaac, it's Ellie!_" game-Ellie announced, "_I found someone! Another survivor. He says he knows you._"

"Ellie!" everyone but Nicole cried again. The Senior Medical Officer didn't say a word.

"I knew she'd be back!" Tiedemann added after that.

"_I-Isaac!_" game-Stross cried, but game-Ellie held her Plasma Cutter up to his face.

"_I said stand still!_" she snapped.

"Oh damn," Stross whispered to himself.

_"Ellie, take it easy!" _game-Isaac replied_, "His name is Stross. I know him." _

Game-Ellie narrowed her eyes_. "He looks…twitchy_,_" _she commented_, "I don't trust him. Don't move_!_" _She pointed her Plasma Cutter at Stross again.

_"Ellie!" _game-Isaac said_, "I need him to be…not dead. I need him."_

"Good to know I'm worth something," Stross commented again.

Game-Ellie considered it for a minute_. "Shit_,"_ she cursed, "Okay, Isaac. I'll march him to the hub, but if he does anything stupid…anything…I will shoot him_."She signed off after that.

"Daaaaamn," everyone repeated.

"Shit just got real," Tiedemann piped up.

"Oh, shut up," Stross joked, "Seriously, though, Ellie, don't shoot me."

"Don't do anything stupid," Ellie replied, though she said it in a light tone.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few minutes later…<strong>_

"Well, here's the transport hub," Isaac announced to the others.

_Roar! _"What was that?" Daina whispered.

_ "_Sounded like a Brute," Hammond replied bitterly.

_ "_A what?" Stross asked.

"A Brute," Isaac said, "I wonder if there's going to be any in this game."

"Don't say a word," Mercer warned, "You don't want to jinx anything."

"Good point," Kyne quipped. With that, Isaac saved the game and then entered the transport hub.

_"Isaac!" _game-Ellie_, "We're up here. Come on, move!_"She said that to someone else, and everyone saw it was game-Stross.

_ "H-hello, Isaac_," he greeted feebly.

"Hey, Stross," Isaac greeted in return as the real Stross looked away.

_ "Well, this brings up bad memories_," game-Ellie commented_, "I barely managed to escape this CEC Facility this morning._"

_ "Wait, you're CEC?" _game-Isaac asked_. _

"See?" Tiedemann cut in, "Another reason you're a spoiler, Ellie!"

"Not funny," Ellie retorted.

Game-Ellie nodded_. "Heavy equipment pilot, Class Four_,_" _she explained_, "You?" _

_ "Engineer," _game-Isaac explained_. _

At this, game-Ellie smirked_. "Nerd_," she said, "_Figures_."

"Hey!" Nicole cried, fuming a little bit.

"She just called you a nerd, Isaac," Hammond laughed, "Are you just gonna take it?"

Ellie laughed as well.

Suddenly, the lights flickered and then shut off for good._ "Shit," _game-Isaac cursed under his breath_. _

_ "It's dark!" _game-Stross cried_, "He'll find me in the dark!" _

_ "Shut up!" _game-Ellie hissed_, "It's okay, it's just a power outage."_

"I don't like the looks of this," Hammond said, but Kendra shushed him.

_"You guys all right up there?" _game-Isaac shouted in concern_. _

_ "No," _game-Stross_. _

_ "Shit," _game-Ellie cursed_, "I think life support is out, too." _

_ "That's not good," _game-Stross stammered_._

Suddenly, in a flash, some sort of auxiliary power turned on, with a video log from a familiar face. "Hey, look at that!" Kendra gasped.

_"Our two remaining runners: Clarke and Stross_,"game-Tiedemann began from his end_, "I knew it was only a matter of time before you both reached the transit hub. You will find the train inoperable._"

_ "_Wow!" everyone gasped.

_ "_What the hell's wrong with you, Tiedemann?" Nicole asked, and the real Tiedemann just shrugged.

_"Are you insane?" _game-Isaac roared_, "You cut off power to life support! There may be other survivors over here!"_

"_The public sector is already beyond acceptable recovery conditions_," game-Tiedemann replied_, "And I can't allow either of you to escape. Goodbye, Clarke._" With that, he signed off, leaving the flesh and blood Tiedemann pale.

"Why am I so _evil _again?" he asked rhetorically. Nobody had an answer for him.

All of a sudden, the Brute's roar could be heard again, and game-Ellie gasped. _"Holy, shit, Isaac!"_ she yelled_, "Look out! It's headed for you!" _With that, the first official Brute of the game made its appearance.

"AHH!" Stross screamed, "What the hell is that?"

"_That's _the Brute," Isaac explained, "Remember there was one for a split second back in that part with the tram? Well, this is it in all its glory."

"That thing's the Necromorph that killed my character in the first game!" Hammond added, frowning as he watched game-Isaac hurl a Stasis lamp at the hulking Necromorph. While it was slowed down, he shot at the yellow pods on both the Brute's arms, using the Pulse Rifle to take care of that. Meanwhile, game-Ellie and game-Stross had their own foes to deal with.

"_Where do they keep coming from?_" game-Ellie shouted, "_They're everywhere!_"

Down in the lower level of the transit hub, game-Isaac just finished taking some damage from the Brute, and he grabbed another lamp to use against the enemy. This time, the Brute curled up in a ball, and Isaac directed himself over to it and took out the legs.

"_I need help up here!_" game-Ellie cried, which she repeated a couple more times throughout the battle.

"No, you don't," Daina teased, "Looks like you're invincible, Ellie."

"Looks like Miss Langford has skills on par with yours, Mr. Clarke," Kyne pointed out.

"In other words, she's just as badass as our favorite engineer!" Hammond cried excitedly. The only one who wasn't too thrilled was Nicole, but she kept her mouth shut the whole time.

"Guys, stop," Isaac piped up, for he had caught Nicole's expression in the nick of time.

"Yeah, I'm not that badass," Ellie added, catching onto what was happening that only she and Isaac could see. However, nobody else seemed to notice.

Once the fight with the Brute was finally over, Isaac reloaded his weapons and just sat back as he let the next cutscene play out. _"Isaac? Are you all right?_"game-Ellie asked_, "I think that's all of them, for now. Why did Tiedemann turn off the power? What did you do to piss him off so much?_"

_ "Ellie, do you know what a Marker is?" _game-Isaac began, and she nodded.

_ "Yeah_,"she answered_, "The Unitologists on my crew wouldn't shut up about it. Why? Is it real?" _

"Damn straight," Kendra answered out loud.

_ "Yeah, it's real," _game-Isaac told her_, "Tiedemann made one using codes, patterns stored in our heads…mine and Stross. Everything that's happening on this station is happening because of that Marker. I have to get to it and destroy it and I need Stross to tell me how." _

Game-Ellie shook her head_. "You're a strange man, Isaac," _she commented_. _

Hammond was now in stitches. "First, you're a nerd, and now you're strange," he chuckled, "Damn, Ellie, you're on a roll today!" Ellie laughed and playfully punched him on the shoulder.

_ "Will you help me?" _game-Isaac asked_. _

_ "We're about to suffocate, so I think I'd better."_

"_Okay, good. Listen, we need power. Without it, we have no air or train. The Sprawl's got to have back-up batteries somewhere." _

_ "Yes. The solar arrays up there! But they've been mothballed for years._"

"_Okay. All right, good. I'm heading there now. If I can start them up and get some power to the train…" _

"_You'll need someone to open the collector panels. I can do that._"

"_Take Stross. Keep him safe." _Game-Ellie nodded and disappeared.

"And that's the end of chapter six!" Isaac announced, "I'm finished for the night. So, same time tomorrow?"

"Hell yeah!" the others cried.

Hopefully, Isaac could smooth things over between him, Ellie, and Nicole before then.


	10. Chapter Seven: Wednesdays

All right, here we go! Next chapter! Sorry it's shorter than the others, but I couldn't think of much else to put in this one. The next few chapters should be longer, though. Thanks again to everyone who's been following this story so far! :D

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The next day at the CEC…<strong>_

Isaac Clarke hated Wednesdays.

He had not been looking forward to work today for the first time in the history of being a systems engineer. He had almost called in sick that morning, but he knew that Benjamin Matthius would personally hand him over to the Unitologists if he failed to show up to work.

Isaac shuddered. He couldn't think of a worse fate than that.

He became even more nervous when he looked at the clock on his desk and noticed that it was time for him to take his break. Putting down the blueprints he had been finishing, he slowly tiptoed through the hallways of the CEC, earning some perplexed looks from the others. At one point, he passed by Kendra as she held out the key to her office and tried to balance some papers she was carrying. "Hey, Kendra!" Isaac greeted.

"Hey!" the computer specialist exclaimed, "What's with the creeping around?"

With that, Isaac slipped his helmet on. "I'm trying not to get killed," he replied in a deadpan voice, "I have to talk to Nicole. About last night."

Kendra remembered the talk she and Nicole had had about this same dilemma. "Look," she sighed, "Whatever's going on between you and Nicole, you need to work it out. And stop flirting with Ellie."

"But I'm not flirting with her!" Isaac protested, causing Kendra to smirk as she swiped her key, entered her office, and put down her papers. She then moved to stand in front of the engineer again.

"_Sure _you aren't," she teased, "We can all see there's something you like about Ellie. She's a really nice person, but remember that you're not dating her."

Isaac just face-palmed himself. Why couldn't he just be friends with a woman without everyone thinking he was an "unfaithful asshole", as Tiedemann had referred to game-Stross the previous night? "What am I doing that's making all of you think this?" he asked. He had a girlfriend; he obviously knew how to charm women, but this time, he was stumped.

Kendra just shook her head as she readjusted her ponytail. "Well, for one," she started, "Nicole said she noticed you were checking Ellie out when she first arrived, and then-"

"Wait, she noticed that?" Isaac interrupted, "Oh, _crap_…"

"Yeah," Kendra agreed, nodding slowly.

"Why didn't she tell me sooner?"

Kendra shrugged. "I don't know," she said, "But I know you love Nicole. Now you just have to make sure _she _knows that. Good luck." With that, she disappeared into her office once again. Isaac continued to creep down the hallway until he arrived at the cafeteria. He slowed his pace down even more, hoping to surreptitiously check and see if Nicole and/or Ellie were around. He prayed that at least Nicole was taking her break around the same time.

"Look, Nicole," Ellie's voice echoed throughout the room just as Isaac paused at the door and spotted her and Nicole sitting across from each other at a small table, "I know we haven't known each other for too long, but I'm not interested in Isaac Clarke."

_Damn it, _Isaac thought, _Ellie beat me to the punch. _

"Really?" Nicole replied, sipping some of her coffee and narrowing her eyes, "It didn't look like that to me. I saw the way you two were looking at each other."

"But he's not with me! He's with _you! _You're the one that sits next to him all the time during the game! Why can't you just trust him if he says that nothing's going on? In fact, why are you so possessive of him, anyway?"

Nicole looked down at her lap. "I'm not possessive of him," she answered quietly, "I'm his girlfriend. I have a right to feel the way I do."

_That's it_, Isaac thought, _I've got to get in there. _"But you don't have to feel like that," he piped up, stepping into the cafeteria and heading over to Ellie and Nicole. Both of them glanced up at him and widened their eyes.

"How long have you been standing in the doorway?" Ellie asked sharply.

"Just a few minutes," Isaac replied, "Ellie's right, though, Nicole. There's nothing going on between us. We're just friends." Nicole just stared neutrally at him and didn't say a word.

"See?" Ellie jumped in, "He's saying it himself!"

"Stay out of this!" Nicole snapped at her, "Anyway, I've got to go. I've got a few more patients to check on at the hospital." And before either Isaac or Ellie could say anything, she was already gone, taking her cup of coffee with her. As soon as she left, Isaac and Ellie just glanced at each other. What could they do to convince the Senior Medical Officer otherwise?

* * *

><p>"Okay, guys," Isaac began as all of them except for Nicole gathered at his apartment, "Ellie and I were talking before, and we've both decided there's something that needs to be said. When Nicole gets here, don't make any comments about Ellie's game-character. It's making Nicole feel bad."<p>

"And I feel bad that she feels bad," Ellie added, "I told you guys not to make comments."

The others just glanced at each other with wide eyes, almost as if they finally understood. "We're sorry, Isaac," Hammond apologized, "We didn't realize we were making her feel that way."

"You didn't exactly stop us, though, either," Daina piped up from next to Mercer.

"I know," Isaac reluctantly admitted, "And I feel horrible about it. I want to make it up to Nicole, so if we could just focus on the game and not talk about…that, everyone will be happy."

Kyne just sighed. "You're right, Mr. Clarke," he said, "We're Miss Brennan's friends and we shouldn't have been so crass. We'll try to hold our tongues."

"Right," Tiedemann agreed, "We'll help you convince her that she's still your girl."

"Thanks, guys," Isaac thanked them, smiling, "I really appreciate it."

"I'm sorry if I got in the way," Ellie apologized.

"No, you didn't," Isaac assured her, "The only thing is that Nicole needs to realize that." He took a deep breath and proceeded to set up the Xbox360 and the game once again while they all waited for Nicole…if she even wanted to watch the game tonight.

It seemed to take a while, but Nicole finally arrived fifteen minutes later, and the others immediately thought about what Isaac and Ellie had said. "Hey, Nicole!" Hammond greeted a little too cheerfully, "Ready to watch more _Dead Space 2_?"

"Only because I want to see what happens next in the game," Nicole replied, giving Hammond a cool smile as she sat further away from Isaac and Ellie this time, closer to Kendra, Hammond, and Tiedemann.

"You're not sitting up here?" Isaac asked in surprise.

"Nah," Nicole said, "I want to see what the game looks like from a different angle." She gave Isaac another cool smile, and the engineer realized she wasn't letting him off the hook that easily.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit up here?" Isaac asked, hoping that his girlfriend would change her mind.

"Positive," Nicole answered, and an awkward silence hung in the air. It was almost as awkward as the time Temple and Mercer had gotten into a fight over the first _Dead Space._

"So…what are we waiting for, guys?" Stross asked in order to eliminate the awkwardness in the room, "We have a game to play!"

"Stross is right," Ellie said, "We better get going!" With that, Isaac loaded the game to where he last saved and quickly made his way through the empty hallways after battling the Brute in the Transport Hub. They were quiet for the most part, save for the distant sound of a Mature Guardian.

"Uh oh," Isaac mumbled, "I hope that isn't what I think it is."

"What?" Ellie asked.

"A Mature Guardian," Isaac replied.

"What the hell is a Mature Guardian?" Tiedemann asked, raising his eyebrows.

"_AHHHH!_" a shrill voice screeched in the game, making everyone jump. Game-Isaac rounded the corner, and sure enough, there was a Mature Guardian by the elevator he needed to get on in order to proceed to the next area.

"_That, _my friends, would be the Guardian," mercer explained, nodding at the Necromorph attached to the wall up ahead.

"Eww!" Daina shrieked, covering her mouth, "What are those things flying out of its stomach?"

"The really annoying pods that always eat up my health," Isaac explained, switching to the Line Gun and planting a mine in order to kill all the pods in the area.

"Why are you standing so far back?" Stross asked.

Isaac smiled wryly to himself. "Here, I'll demonstrate," he said.

"Uhh, Isaac?" Kendra asked, "You sure you want to do that?"

"You're starting to sound like me, Miss Daniels," Kyne joked, "Usually, I'm the cautious one here."

"This time is different, though," Kendra reasoned.

But Isaac continued to plow right towards the Guardian…which ended up beheading his game-character with one blow. "_AHHHH!_" the Necromorph screamed.

"AHHH!" Daina also screamed at the same time, "Thanks for that lovely display, Isaac!"

Isaac just shrugged, not even flinching as he got a game-over. He was far too used to the gory deaths in the game to react. "That's pretty much all there is to the Guardian," he said, "I'm glad there weren't two of them, though."

"Can you imagine having to fight _two _of them?" Tiedemann asked, "_One _is bad enough."

"We've done it," Hammond assured him, "It's not pretty. It eats up a lot of ammo."

With that, the game reloaded to a point before game-Isaac had been killed, and this time, Isaac took care of the Guardian before moving on. At that moment, Chapter Six ended and Chapter Seven began…with a Necromorph ambush!

"Look out!" Kyne shouted, pointing at the Leapers that tried to attack Isaac's digital counterpart. Fortunately, they were getting much easier to fight, and at first, Isaac thought he hadn't collected the item from the Necromorph's corpse, so he continued to press the button on his controller to force him to stomp.

After the first few stomps, game-Isaac began to growl, and then, to everyone's surprise, he let out a very colorful string of words. "_Shit!_" he cursed. Isaac immediately stopped curb-stomping the ground as he gasped.

"Holy crap!" Ellie cried, "You curse when you curb stomp?"

"He's got a colorful mouth in the game _period_," Kyne piped up.

Curious now, Isaac resumed stomping, and everyone saw that Ellie and Kyne were right. "_Shit! Mother…fucker! Die!_" game-Isaac snapped in between stomps.

"What the hell?" Kendra and Hammond whispered to themselves.

There was silence for a few seconds before everyone began to crack up. "Now I curse when I curb stomp?" Isaac chuckled, "That's something new!"

"You curse all the other times, too," Nicole reminded him, speaking up for the first time since she had arrived.

"But here it's much more often!" Isaac retorted, stopping at the Store before upgrading his Air Meter and Detonator at the Bench. Right after that, he saved the game and decided to continue.

As soon as he made it to the elevator in the corner, he stopped as he began to speak into his RIG. "_Ellie_," game-Isaac said into the communicator, "_I ran into a snag. It looks like the Docking Pod that runs to the Solar Array is floating at the bottom of the shaft._"

"_That figures,_" game-Ellie replied in a frustrated tone of voice. Nicole frowned in the back, but promised to keep herself under control. She wasn't here to start anything. _It's just a game, _she tried to convince herself, _It's just game…_

"_Don't worry, I can fix this_," game-Isaac assured her, "_I'm heading outside to have a look._" And sure enough, he entered the zero-gravity environment outside to find that he needed to shoot the thrusters on the Docking Bay in order to get it to attach to the rest of the elevator. Like some of the other missions in the game, this didn't take too long to complete, and once he was finished, game-Isaac got back in touch with game-Ellie again.

"_Ellie, I've got the elevator repaired_," he reported, "_I'm heading up to the array. How's Stross doing?_"

Everyone in the room could just make out the sound of Nolan talking to himself in the distance. "_How do you think he's doing?_" game-Ellie replied, "_Can you hear this shit?_"

"_He's hallucinating, Ellie. It's part of the sickness._"

"_This is going to be trouble."_

"_It already is. Just keep moving._"

"Am I even talking about anything substantial?" Stross wondered, "Or am I just mumbling?"

"Probably just mumbling," Ellie answered, "Since the game seems to think you're crazy."

Stross just sighed and glanced down at his lap. "I'm not crazy," he repeatedly mumbled to himself, as if he were genuinely trying to convince himself of that fact.

After contending with a few more Necromorphs, game-Isaac boarded the newly fixed elevator and began to head up to Solar Array Sigma Zero Five…only to get the surprise of his life along the way.

"Uh oh," Tiedemann whispered, "What's happening?"

On the screen, the elevator began to shake, and the glass broke all around Isaac's game character as a voice announced, "_Entering vacuum_."

"Oh, _no!_" everyone groaned just as a few Necromorphs extended their arms into the elevator and tried to grab game-Isaac.

"What the hell are those Necromorph?" Kendra asked.

"Tripods, maybe?" Daina suggested.

"Or Brutes?" Isaac quipped as he rotated the analog stick on his Xbox360 controller in order to make his character run in all directions. He could feel the controller vibrate as the Necromorphs hit him, but he eventually managed to aim at all the yellow pods and shoot them in order to get the arms to disappear.

"Good thing you upgraded your air," Stross commented, "This is the longest elevator ride in the whole game so far!"

"Yeah," Isaac agreed, "Good thing." He reloaded his Pulse Rifle as he continued to use the alternate fire in order to take out the Necromorphs, despite the fact that the grenades were eating up all his ammo. Nevertheless, they got the job done, and once all the arms were gone, the elevator continued to ascend until it arrived at its destination.

"_Arriving at Solar Array Sigma Zero Five._"


	11. Chapter Seven: Iron Clarke

Here we go! Next chapter! This one was one of my favorite ones to write! :D Thanks again to everyone who's been following this story!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>"I hope this part is painless enough," Isaac said as he killed more of the Necromorphs that were hard to spot at first. Once they were down, he proceeded to stomp on every box in the area, collecting the ammo, credits, and health packs inside them.<p>

"_Die!_" game-Isaac hissed after the real Isaac entered a curb-stomping frenzy.

"I still find that hilarious," Tiedemann commented, chuckling heartily and helping himself to some snacks. Isaac chuckled to himself before finally entering Solar Array Sigma Zero Five. All the lights flared to life around game-Isaac just as a tall hologram of a woman appeared with her hands folded behind her back.

"_Welcome to Solar Array Sigma Zero Five,_" she announced, "_Proper identification is required. Please wait here. Watchman Howard Phillips will be with you shortly._"

"How about not?" Hammond suggested, "Sadly, he's probably dead."

"In this game, everyone's dead," Kyne pointed out, "It's like Shakespeare's tragedies."

"True that," Tiedemann agreed, "True that, Hammond."

They all fell silent as Isaac quickly stopped at the Store, buying a few more items before making his way over to the Save Station. Before he could properly save, however, a few bands of red lights swept over his game character. "Whoa, what the hell?" Daina gasped.

"_Your RIG is not authorized to access this area,_" the same voice from earlier announced, "_Please step away from the door._"

"At least she said 'please'," Kendra mused as Isaac continued to save the game anyway.

"Even when voices don't want you to get somewhere, they're still polite," Ellie laughed. Isaac just shook his head and allowed a smile to spread across his face as he looked around the room his game character was in. It wasn't until he reached Station Watchman Howard Philips's room and saw a bloody corpse on the bed that he realized what he had to do.

"Oh, _hell no_!" the engineer cried, "That is sick!"

"Don't tell me you're going to have to use his body as identification," Daina groaned, "Does that even work if the person is dead?"

"I guess we'll find out." With that, Isaac used Kinesis in order to pick up the Watchman's body. He carefully carried it over to the door, and they all watched in a horrified fascination as a few green lasers scanned the RIG on the body.

"_RIG authorization recognized. Greetings, Station Watchman Howard Philips. I hope you slept well._" With that, the hologram on the door switched to green as well, and game-Isaac crossed over to the other side.

"Damn," Daina whispered, "So it did work."

"That's crazy!" Stross agreed.

The easy access into the Solar Array didn't last long, however; as soon as the door shut behind him, a few mines suddenly activated right in front of him. "_Unauthorized visitors detected. Auto defenses activated. Station Watchman Howard Philips, please provide verbal access code to authorize your guests._"

"Busted!" Tiedemann laughed, slapping his knee.

"Not funny," Kyne growled, "We have to get through there."

"That shouldn't be too tough," Isaac replied, picking up a few metal barrels he had spotted, stepping back, and hurling them through the defenses. They each exploded successively, allowing game-Isaac to continue into the next room.

"What was that?" Stross suddenly gasped as they all watched something fly in the corner of the screen.

"_Damn it!_" Isaac cried, "A Leaper! I hate those Necromorphs!"

"They are rather annoying," Kyne agreed, settling back in his chair as he watched the systems engineer take them all on. At one point, he shot the window on the other side of the room, initiating decompression as he began to slide towards open space. Above where the window used to be was another switch, which he shot in order to close the door once again.

Once he was finished with that, game-Isaac made his way over to a control panel in a side room, which he used to hack into the elevator, as well as read about the security, named ANTI. "This ANTI sure doesn't sound very friendly," Isaac commented after reading the test logs about her.

"Maybe we have to shut her down?" Ellie suggested, and the others shrugged.

A few minutes later, game-Isaac boarded the newly unlocked elevator in the corner, taking care of a Slasher that was waiting for him on the next floor. "This area is too empty," Tiedemann mused, rubbing his hands against his chin.

Isaac pressed the appropriate buttons to make his character use Kinesis in order to pull down the bridge up ahead…only to trigger more defenses. "Aww, Tiedemann, you jinxed it!" Hammond joked. Tiedemann just shrugged.

"_Clarke,_" game-Tiedemann began out of nowhere, "_I know you're up there. Understand that even if you survive long enough to restore power, there is no escape. All routes in and out of government sector are being monitored. Give up, Clarke._"

"So I order an evac of this space station and try to save over a million people," the real Tiedemann piped up, "Yet I want to kill Clarke and Stross. My character has some real issues in this game."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Isaac agreed as he destroyed the mines that were stretched out in front of him, "I didn't do anything to you. At least, not in real life."

"Of course not," Tiedemann replied breezily, waving his hand as Isaac continued to play the game. He proceeded to enter the next hallway, where the air instantly shut off and turned the whole hallway into a vacuum.

"Oh, _man!_" Kendra groaned, "That better not have been because of you, Tiedemann!"

"I hope not, either," Tiedemann retorted, watching as game-Isaac plowed through the silent hallway, breaking open boxes in order to collect items.

"AHH!" Nicole screamed from the back as a legless Stalker appeared out of nowhere and crawled towards Isaac's character.

"Whoa, _shit!_" Isaac cursed, pumping the Necromorph full of lead, "They just had to stick one of those in this part, didn't they?"

"It's not _Dead Space _without a few surprise attacks," Kyne pointed out, "I see they kept that aspect of the series."

"Yeah," Hammond agreed, "Other than that, it's pretty much been an action game."

After Isaac finished taking care of the Stalker, he made his way over to the control panel just up ahead, which he hacked into in order to restore air to the hallway and unlock the door up ahead. The entire time he had been in this area, the same hologram of ANTI had just watched him, even about-facing to stare at him as he had hacked his way into the system. "That's creepy," Isaac commented, "I actually didn't realize she was watching me in the first room with Howard Philips."

"She's everywhere!" Ellie joked.

"Not funny," Isaac replied, though he had to chuckle to himself as well. He entered the next room, where the door behind him suddenly locked and the same voice from ANTI announced his presence.

"_Unauthorized visitor, mainframe,_" she said.

"_Computer, this is Director Tiedemann,_" game-Tiedemann suddenly spoke up into the loudspeaker, "_Disable all Solar Array Functions immediately._"

"_Tiedemann!_" everyone in the room groaned just as the lockdown initiated.

"Really, Hans?" Kendra snorted, "_Really?_"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Tiedemann cried, holding his hands up in front of him.

"_I'm sorry, Clarke,_" game-Tiedemann apologized insincerely, "_I know what you're trying to do, and I cannot allow you to succeed. There is too much at stake._"

"Why not?" Isaac asked. Tiedemann just shrugged.

The next part was relatively easy, all ten of them found; after crawling through the vent in the middle of the room, Isaac entered one of the side rooms, where he proceeded to use Kinesis in order to take all the red blocks out of the wall and place them in the right slots.

"By far," Stross spoke up, "This appears to be the easiest puzzle in the whole game."

"I agree," Mercer agreed, "I hope the rest of the game is like this."

Except for a few Necromorphs that popped out every now and then, game-Isaac was doing all right, and everyone became absorbed by the game play. He used the rearranged pieces in order to unlock the main frame, all while ANTI kept announcing his unwanted presence.

"_Unauthorized visitor, mainframe._"

"She sure has a knack for repeating herself," Ellie chuckled after ANTI had announced this for a third time.

"That she does," Stross concurred, suddenly clutching his arm as he eagerly watched game-Isaac continue to take down ANTI room by room. Daina was the only one to notice Stross doing this at first, and she decided to keep quiet about it. For now.

* * *

><p><em><strong> A few minutes later…<strong>_

By the time Isaac directed himself to the second room, he finished solving the puzzle and watched as ANTI's defenses finally went down. A few Necromorphs burst out of a vent opposite where game-Isaac was at the same time. _"Mainframe containment compromised_," the robotic, female voice reported_, "Security has been notified_."

"Would that security happen to be the Necromorphs?" Daina asked, watching as they stood outside and waited for game-Isaac to return.

"If I have my own personal army of Necromorphs, then yeah," Tiedemann said, "I still have no idea what my character has against Clarke's."

Everyone fell silent as Isaac used the Detonator to set up some mines around the perimeter of the mainframe, just in case any Necromorphs happened to try and attack him. Satisfied with his defenses, game-Isaac proceeded to shoot all the fuses that were in a circle right in the center. Sure enough, in that time, a few Necromorphs popped out in an attempt to ambush game-Isaac, but they ended up blowing themselves up from the mines. "That was a smart strategy, Isaac," Stross complimented.

"Thanks," the engineer thanked him, moving on to shoot the last fuse in order to effectively "kill" the computer.

_"Automated functions…offline. Lllockouts…offfline. Ssstation reverting to…manual operation only. ANTI…offfffffliiiiiiiine_." The voice got progressively deeper and more elongated, which made everyone burst out laughing.

"I never thought I'd laugh at a computer crashing," Kendra chortled, wrapping her arms around her midsection. After slowly dying, the computer system crashed, and the door up ahead unlocked. Once Isaac realized he couldn't go back to save his progress, he decided to keep going. He opened the door only to find…

"AHH!" Isaac, Stross, Daina, and Kyne screamed as a body fell on game-Isaac.

"Oh my God, get off me!" Isaac cried, quickly moving away from the body as it collapsed onto the ground.

"That was scary," Daina whispered, accidentally clutching onto the same arm Stross was holding. She quickly withdrew her hand.

_"Ellie," _game-Isaac announced into his RIG as he started a video log_, "I'm on my way to the mirrors now. I have to realign them manually. How's Stross?" _

_ "See for yourself_,"game-Ellie replied as she sent him a video log of the two of them. She focused the camera on game-Stross as he began to have a panic attack.

_ "No, I'm not ready to have the needle again!" _he yelled_, "You have to let me out! I can't breathe! Let me out!" _

_ "Stross, what's wrong?" _game-Isaac asked_, "Ellie?" _

_ "He's waiting for me!" _game-Stross wailed as the camera cut out.

For the next few seconds, nobody knew what to say, except Stross clutched his arm even tighter now as he hyperventilated a little bit. "I see the game got my claustrophobia down pat," he said in a shaky voice, "I never liked close spaces."

"Me neither," Kyne agreed, "I know how you feel, Nolan." Stross just shuddered.

Isaac continued to play through more of the game just as the Components from the first game made an appearance. "Oh, _crap!_" he groaned, "These things are back!"

"Oh, these enemies are so annoying!" Hammond agreed, "And the head component has a really sick death!"

"Oh my," Daina gasped, "I'm not sure I want to see it."

"I don't think you do," Kendra agreed, "It's seriously messed up."

"Maybe another time," Isaac reasoned.

"Good idea," Nicole spoke up from the back. Now that some time had passed, she wasn't as angry as she had been before. Maybe she could sit next to Isaac again. She'd have to see.

As game-Isaac continued to kill all the Components, he broke open more boxes and picked up the ammo, credits, and health packs inside, though there were less health packs due to the difficulty the engineer was playing on.

He soon entered the next room, where a few Enhanced Leapers attacked him as he used Stasis to take them all down. "Hey, what's that over there?" Mercer asked, pointing at something pink.

"There's something familiar about that," Isaac mumbled, remembering a poster he had seen on the _Ishimura _while he was playing through the first game. Now that all the Necromorphs were gone, he was free to use Kinesis in order to pick it up.

"_There's Always Peng,_" Isaac read as the achievement flashed across the bottom of the screen.

"Peng?" Ellie asked, scrunching her nose up, "What's Peng?"

"There was a poster of a woman that said that in the first game," Isaac explained, "But I don't know what it is. I never did pick up the Peng Treasure in the first game, did I?"

All the old timers shook their heads.

"Once I finish this game, I'm going to go back to find it."

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few minutes later…<strong>_

"At least I can save now," Isaac said happily as he saved the game after using one of his Power Nodes to get into the storage room next to the Save Station. Once he completed that, he hacked the door next to him in order to unlock it.

"Are we going to the Solar Array at last?" Tiedemann asked.

"I think so," Isaac answered, "There's nowhere else to go." He pushed the appropriate button to open the door just as the screen turned orange again and game-Nicole appeared in the seat just up ahead.

"Great," Nicole muttered sarcastically to herself.

_"How do you do it?" _game-Nicole hissed from where she sat,_ "How do you hold it all inside, your face never betraying your pain? No one would ever know the guilt you feel, never know the dark thoughts you keep." _She lingered for a little bit before disappearing.

"What…the…_hell_?" everyone muttered.

"What are you talking about, Nicole?" Isaac asked, turning to face his girlfriend, who just shrugged.

"Whatever you did, it wasn't good," she replied noncommittally, and Isaac couldn't help but wonder if she was referring to his supposed flirting with Ellie. Shrugging, he pressed the button to make the elevator ascend to the Solar Array at last.

"I wonder what that seat Nicole was sitting in before is for," Stross said, tilting his head to the side.

"I guess we'll find out," Kyne assured him, and they all watched in fascination as game-Isaac finally made it to the Solar Array. Across from him was Saturn, and all ten people in the room gasped in amazement.

"Wow," they whispered.

"Those are some amazing graphics," Hammond added, widening his eyes, "How did they pull it off?"

"I don't know, but I love it," Kendra agreed, smiling as Isaac moved a little further into the zero-gravity and vacuum environment.

"_Ellie_," game-Isaac said, "_It looks like two of the mirrors are out of alignment. How's he doing?_"

"You don't have to keep checking on me, you know," Stross quipped.

"Uhh, I think he _does_," Ellie told him, and he tightened his grip on his arm.

"_He's stopped hyperventilating, but I don't know how much longer he'll last. I knew he would just slow me down._"

"Thanks a lot," Stross hissed to himself.

"_If Stross dies_," game-Isaac cut in, "_So do our chances of destroying the Marker. Keep him alive and get to that panel._"

"_I'll try,_" game-Ellie responded, "_Wish me luck._"

"Good luck," Daina said out loud. Everyone watched as game-Isaac refilled on his air before moving on. He used Bread Crumbs in order to direct himself over to the first mirror, and once he made it, he used Kinesis in order to align it with one of the other mirrors-a fairly simple task.

"_All right, Ellie, one down_," game-Isaac reported, "_How's it looking on your end?_"

"_I'm trying to roll back the cover now. Stross, can you give me a hand with this?_"

"_He'll hurt me!_" game-Stross cried, "_I'm not strong enough!" _

"Yes, you are," Daina piped up.

"_I promise I'll protect you,_" game-Ellie assured him, "_Now just get over here and give me a hand._" With that, everyone could make the sound of game-Stross and game-Ellie opening the collector's panel.

"Wow, I actually listened to you," Stross gasped, "I can't believe it."

"_There's something covering the collector's panel…Oh my God!_"

"Uh oh," Isaac mused, "What's going on?"

"_There's hun-there's thousands of them! They're breaking apart!_"

"_Ellie, get out of there!_" game-Isaac shouted.

"_Oh, God, they're heading this way! Run, Stross! Run!_"

"_Ellie! Ellie, come in! Ellie!_" But game-Ellie was gone.

"_Shit_," game-Isaac murmured under his breath.

"I hope we don't die," Ellie said, nudging Stross in his shoulder and making him clutch his arm even tighter.

"Why do you do that, Stross?" Daina suddenly piped up, unable to hold her question inside anymore.

"Do what?" Stross inquired as Isaac refilled on his air and went to take out the Nest Necromorph in the area.

"Clutch your arm like that," Daina told him, "I notice you've been doing that since the middle of this chapter."

Stross blanched as he suddenly noticed just how tightly he was gripping his arm. "Oh!" he gasped, "It's…uhh…a nervous habit."

"Clutching one of your arms is a nervous habit?" Mercer asked with a skeptic tone.

"Yes!" Stross insisted, narrowing his eyes, "I like to hold onto myself to calm down. My arm is the closest thing I can reach."

The others thought this was a little strange, but they decided to just let it go for now. Nolan Stross was starting to show an eccentric side to them now.

In the game, game-Isaac managed to take out the Nest, and then he refilled his air as he went to realign the other mirror, which he finished in record time as well. A beam in the center of the Solar Array suddenly turned on and began to rotate, and "Objective Complete" flashed across the screen.

"Yay, we did it!" Kendra cheered, fist pumping the air.

"_Holy shit, Isaac!_" game-Ellie gasped once she got back in contact with him again.

"_Ellie! Ellie, are you all right?_" game-Isaac asked.

"_We just made it into the crossover tube when the beam hit! Isaac, those things are still heading for the Transport Hub. They're wrecking everything in their path!" _

_ "Oh, shit!_" game-Isaac cursed, "_They'll cut us off! Get to the hub! I'll meet you as soon as I can!_"

"Go! Go! Go!" Kendra, Hammond, and Tiedemann began to chant as Isaac made himself fly back to the elevator shaft.

"I would say 'Run, Forest, Run'," Nicole added, "But since you're not exactly running…"

"Fly, Forest, Fly!" Daina joked, making everyone laugh.

In the game, Isaac finally made it back to the elevator shaft when he decided to contact game-Ellie. "_Ellie, come in!_" he cried.

"_Isaac! We have to cross to the Government Sector before they cut us off! You'll never make it down here in time!" _

"_I'll be there!_" game-Isaac thundered, "_I'll be there!_"

"Whoa, chill out, Isaac," Ellie coaxed, laughing a little bit, "I know you'll be there."

"Of course I will," Isaac assured her, and when the seat behind him unlocked, everyone realized what it was for.

"Oh, boy," Hammond whispered, watching as game-Isaac climbed into the seat.

"_Instability detected in the Array Alignment. Emergency ejector systems initializing._" Everyone watched with wide eyes as shoulder restraints lowered over game-Isaac as the seat lifted up into the air.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Kendra squealed, "I'm so excited for this part!"

"I spy a badass scene approaching," Isaac added. The elevator shaft opened to outer space, and suddenly, the seat accelerated forward.

"Holy shit!" Stross gasped, continuing to clutch his arm just as the seat ejected Isaac's character into space. With that, he turned on the accelerators in his boots as he began to fly past all the debris around him.

"Oh…my…_God_!" Ellie petitioned, only it was one of excitement.

"That is _badass!_" all the guys shouted as Isaac continued to fly through and around the debris. The engineer had a huge smile on his face the whole time as he guided himself through space.

"Go, Isaac!" Nicole cheered from the back, for even she couldn't contain her excitement in this part of the level.

"How did you get to be so _epic_?" Hammond inquired, "Not that that's a bad thing, but still…"

"This is my favorite part of the game so far," Isaac declared, "I called it."

"Look at him go!" Stross cried as game-Isaac managed to fly through a small hole in a rather large chunk of debris.

"There is someone this part reminds me of," Kyne mused, thoughtfully rubbing his chin, "But I can't think of the name…"

"Who cares?" Ellie asked, "This is an awesome part of the game!"

"Damn straight," Nicole added, shocked that she was actually agreeing with Ellie on something.

Everyone just settled back and watched as Isaac made himself aim for a particular building. The music picked up and eventually reached its crescendo as game-Isaac crashed through the roof and tumbled down the shaft. He then spread out his hands and used the turbo boosts in his boots in order to slow himself down, landing gently on the ground and ending one of the most epic sequences in _Dead Space 2_.

Hammond couldn't help it; he placed two fingers in his mouth, whistled, and began to clap. "I _loved _that part!" he cried, and the joy spread to everyone else, who also began whistling and cheering.

"_Badass!_" Isaac, Ellie, Tiedemann, Nicole, and Daina yelled as well, and Tiedemann raised his bottle of beer in the air.

"I think that scene made up for anything else," Mercer decided, nodding as he leaned back in his seat.

That was when the phone suddenly began to ring, making Isaac pause the game in surprise. Everyone stared at it, and the caller ID revealed that it was an unknown name and unknown number. "Should we answer it?" Daina asked with concern.

"Might as well," Isaac mumbled, picking up the phone. "Hello?" he asked.

"_Is this Isaac Clarke?_" the unfamiliar voice on the other end responded.

Isaac narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Yes," he replied, "Who's calling?"

"A big fan of superhero comics. I just played the part of the game where you fly through all that debris."

_What the hell? _Isaac thought. "That's…nice," he stammered, "How'd you get my number?"

The person on the other end laughed. "_That's not important. There is something I wanted to say, though._"

"And what would that be?"

The person laughed again, and the next thing he said shocked Isaac.

"_You could be Iron Man's twin brother. Iron Clarke!_"


	12. Chapter Eight: Sitting at the Handlebars

Righto! Here's the next chapter of "Playing the Game 2"! Congratulations to LunaticPandora1 for getting the 100th review, and thank you to everyone else who has reviewed and read this story! I really appreciate it! With that, here's the next chapter! For some reason, chapter eight always seems to be able to fit into one chapter. Enjoy! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p><em>Iron Clarke? <em>Isaac asked himself, _What…the…hell? _

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"_Oh you know," _the mysterious caller replied, "_How you and Iron Man have the flying thing going on. Oh, and similar suits._"

"Are you saying I'm copying this Iron Man character?" Isaac replied.

"_Not at all. I think it's pretty cool. I just wanted to let you know that!_"

"And you got my number…how?" he retorted.

"_Simple: I looked it up on the CEC's website. Gotta go. I'm going to go back to the game now. Bye!_" Before the engineer could reply, the person hung up, leaving it a mystery as to who that was.

"Who was that?" Stross asked worriedly, tilting his head to the side.

"No idea," Isaac mumbled, "He just compared me to some character named Iron Man."

Kyne suddenly snapped his fingers. "_That's _who that part reminded me of!" he realized, and everyone gave him a funny look.

"What?" he questioned.

"Let's just get back to the game," Isaac suggested, sitting down again as he unpaused it and watched as game-Isaac stood up again.

"_Ellie!_" he cried, "_Where are you?_"

"_Right outside! Hurry!_"

"That's right, Isaac!" Hammond shouted, "Hurry up!"

"Hold your horses!" Isaac replied, "I've just gotta make a quick trip to the Store first." He quickly took care of all his business at the Store before heading over to the Save Station and saving his progress.

"If that's your way of hurrying, I'd hate to see when you're not trying to make it somewhere on time," Ellie commented dryly. The others chuckled quietly.

Pretty soon, game-Isaac made it back to the transport hub. "_Isaac!_" game-Ellie cried from up above, "_This way! The train is this way!_"

Suddenly, in the game, something exploded, causing everyone in the room to flinch. "_Oh, shit!_" game-Ellie cursed.

"You got that right," Stross mumbled, resuming clutching his arm and earning a perplexed look from Daina.

"_Move, move, move!_" game-Isaac ordered, waving Ellie and Stross's digital counterparts on, "_Head for the factory! Ellie, can you get the door to the factory open?_"

"_Are you crazy?_" game-Ellie shrieked, "_I barely made it out of there with my life! That place is swarming with those things!_"

"_No choice! Go! GO!_"

"_SHIT!_" And with that, game-Ellie and game-Stross were gone, and suddenly, the flames in the corner of the room died down as the entire area turned into a vacuum. The Pack instantly began charging towards game-Isaac, who was now switching to the Pulse Rifle because of the need for crowd control.

"Where are they all coming from?" Daina inquired, "Is that from when you all were at the Solar Array?"

"I hope not," Isaac said as he continued to take them all on. In the back, Tiedemann had his gaze fixed to the screen, unable to move as he watched his friend take on all the Necromorphs and refill on his oxygen every now and then.

"_Isaac,_" game-Ellie piped up, "_I'll try to open the CEC door on your level. Hold on!_"

"I hope you can move much faster than Isaac did before, Miss Langford," Kyne mused.

Isaac shrugged. "So I moved a little slow before," he said, "Nicole knows I've always been a slow poke."

"That you have," Nicole retorted, smirking and enjoying the fact that her boyfriend was getting picked on for once instead of her, "I always beat you up the stairs in the CEC office."

"That's when I'm wearing all my heavy equipment."

"Isaac, focus!" Kendra suddenly piped up, and everyone looked up as game-Isaac took damage from a Leaper that had appeared out of nowhere.

"_Damn _it," Isaac hissed under his breath.

"Guess you can't think and chew gum at the same time," Ellie teased as Isaac rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"_Piece of shit lock!_" game-Ellie growled to herself, "_I'm giving it my codes, but it's not working!_"

Finally, Tiedemann decided to comment. "That's so cliché in all these types of games," he said, "I bet that's in order to prolong the fighting."

"Of course," Kendra said to him, nodding.

"Sometimes, the locks really are shitty, though," Ellie told her, "Especially when I'm trying to move things around."

"Clarke should fix them," Tiedemann retorted, "He's an engineer."

"_Yes, I'm authorized for this!_" game-Ellie snapped, "_Open up, you bastard!_"

"Uh oh," Hammond laughed, "Ellie's in a rage again!"

"Shut up," Ellie chuckled. After a few more minutes of watching Isaac plow his way through a horde of Necromorphs, Ellie's game character managed to get the door to the factory open.

"_There, it's open! Isaac, go! You can't stop them all! Go!"_

"You heard the lady," Kendra piped up, "Get out of there!"

One of the Pack swiped at game-Isaac on his way out, and soon, he managed to climb onto the large elevator and press the button to go up.

"At least that's over and done," Mercer sighed.

"But that's not the end of the game," Daina added.

They all fell silent as game-Isaac sent a video log to game-Ellie. "_Ellie?_ _Are you guys there? Did you make it?_" Game-Ellie looked up at him sadly.

"_Shit, Isaac,_" she croaked, "_Just…shit!_"

"_Take it easy. It's okay-_"

"_No, it's not!_" game-Ellie snapped, "_I was right here this morning with a crew of thirty people. But we were overrun, and before I knew it, they had all transformed._" She sighed, and the ten adults in the room continued to listen to the cutscene, having nothing to say at the moment.

"_I had to cut the arms and legs off my friends just to escape. I'm sure there are pieces of them still lying around here somewhere._"

"Aww," everyone sighed sadly.

"No wonder you're such a hardass in the game," Hammond commented quietly. The real Ellie just shook her head.

"_Ellie, I know. I'm sorry._"

"_And here I am again. I've just walked one big fucking circle today!_" Game-Ellie sighed.

"That's so sad," Daina whispered.

"Poor game-Ellie," Kyne agreed, drumming his fingers on the couch.

"_Well get through this_," game-Isaac assured her, "_Let's figure out how to meet up_." Game-Ellie slowly started to come around again, and she nodded and opened her eyes.

"_Right. There's a central hub in the main facility. Here are the coordinates." _She gave him the coordinates and then disappeared from there.

"Looks like that's the end of chapter seven and the beginning of chapter eight," Isaac announced, breaking the silence that had followed that sad cutscene.

"Why don't these chapters have names?" Kendra wondered out loud, "I kinda miss having to decode a secret message."

"I don't," Nicole answered bitterly, remembering what the other secret message had ended up spelling out.

After taking out a few Necromorphs in the screen, Isaac saved at the closest Save Station and continued to play through more of _Dead Space 2_, picking up any stray items he could find, including an audio log on the opposite side of the room. He pressed the appropriate button to make it play, and the voices that followed surprised everyone.

"_All teams, this is Kaleb, Xenogeologist from Langford Shift 1! There's something in the facility, we've lost 3 of our crew, and can't contact Shift 4!_" a man named Kaleb announced, making Ellie widen her eyes in shock.

"Kaleb!" she yelled, making Stross jump in his seat.

"_Here comes the transport_," game-Ellie replied, "_Everybody get ready in case there's more._"

"_We're abandoning our shift and heading back up. Everyone else is ordered to do the same._"

"_Kaleb, it's more of them! Shoot them! SHOOT THEM!_" The audio log ended there, leaving the flesh and blood Ellie speechless.

"Who's Kaleb?" Nicole asked, "You know a guy named Kaleb?"

"He's a good friend of mine," Ellie explained, "He's part of my crew at the CEC. Man, he's gonna freak out when I tell him he's in this game."

_I wonder if he's her boyfriend,_ Nicole thought, an uncharitable part of her hoping that he was so that the pilot could stay away from Isaac.

In the game, game-Isaac was fending off a few Necromorphs as he used a Power Node to gain access into a side room, neutralizing the Necromorph in there before collecting some ammo, Med Packs, and a schematic for the Vintage Suit.

"The Vintage Suit?" Isaac echoed, "I think I'll change into it. It's about time my game character changed suits anyway." Once he was sure there were no more Necromorphs, he backtracked to the Store at the beginning of the chapter, where to his relief, he had enough money in order to upgrade his suit.

Once game-Isaac emerged from the Store, everyone watched as the helmet slipped over his head, Iron-Man style. "Maybe that caller from before was right," Kyne whispered, "That is just like Iron Man."

"Don't say a word, Kyne," Isaac joked as he studied the Vintage Suit that looked like a scuba-diving outfit. He saved again before moving on once more, emerging into a room where a Pregnant appeared out of nowhere and surprised him.

"AHH!" he screamed as he switched to the Plasma Cutter and shot the Pregnant everywhere except for the stomach, and once it was dead, he spotted another audio log, which he picked up.

"_Sorenson!_" Kaleb cried, "_Do you read? It's Kaleb, Shift 1! You guys better be right behind us, we're leaving a swarm of angry dead body parts behind us._"

"_Kaleb, come on!_" game-Ellie cried, panicking, "_More are moving in ahead of us! I can see them!_"

"_Everyone move it! Go go go!_"

"I wonder where Kaleb is," Stross said nervously, clutching his arm again even after the others had asked him about it.

"Let's hope he's around here somewhere," Tiedemann retorted.

Isaac shrugged, not having anything to say about this Kaleb character, as he continued further into the room. He was just reaching for a Power Node when the screen turned orange again. Game-Nicole suddenly appeared, crouching on top of one of the filing cabinets in front of him.

"Uh oh," Kyne whispered as Nicole just face-palmed herself.

"_The cracks are showing, Isaac, and memories are seeping in," _game-Nicole whispered, "_And when they do, I'll be waiting for you_."

"Poor game-Isaac," Stross said in a quiet voice, "I'm surprised he hasn't gone insane yet."

"I'm already insane, I guess," Isaac told him, "Though I can assure you that in real life, I'm one hundred percent sane."

The next few hallways were quiet, and nobody in the room was sure whether or not this was a good thing. It took a few more minutes, but game-Isaac finally managed to reach the others, to his fortune.

"_Isaac! Over here!_" game-Ellie cried out, "_This must have been the last stand for whoever was left down here._"

"_Can you get the door open on your end?_"

"_No. The circuits are fried. They must have fused the panel trying to keep those things out._"

"Plus, the hologram on the door is red," the real Ellie pointed out, "That should have been a big indicator."

"_There has to be another way in,_" game-Isaac said.

"_The only way around is through the processing plant, but it's not meant for human traffic. I think I can stop it from here, though._"

"Or you could try busting that window," Tiedemann suggested, "But that would be way too easy."

Once game-Ellie managed to stop the processing plant, everyone heard game-Stross speak up for the first time in a long time. "_Step Four…_" he was mumbling.

"_Hold it together, Stross_," game-Isaac said to him, "_I'll be there soon_."

"I hope I can make it until then," Stross commented, "I'm not insane. Right, arm?" He glanced down at the arm he was holding. The others just glanced at each other, and Ellie subtly moved away from the scientist and closer to Kendra, Hammond, and Tiedemann.

"You okay, Stross?" Daina asked cautiously.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Stross assured her.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Necromorph ambush and a trip to the Bench later…<strong>_

Isaac put the controller down for a minute and flexed his fingers. "If I keep playing, I'm gonna get arthritis," he commented.

"Want one of us to play for a while?" Kendra suggested, "So that you can rest your hands?"

"Sure," Isaac said, "Why not?"

"I'll play!" Ellie volunteered, raising her hand. _Of course you will, _Nicole thought to herself, rolling her eyes when nobody else was looking.

"You sure you can handle it?" Isaac joked, bowing dramatically as he handed the controller over to the CEC pilot.

"Of course I can," Ellie replied back, sticking her tongue out at the engineer, "Probably more than you can."

"_Touché_!" Isaac shouted. Ellie just winked and took her place in Isaac's usual seat. The systems engineer sat down next to her as he pointed out the different controls to her.

"This button is to fire weapons," he was saying, "And then this one right here is to activate stasis. That over over there is for-"

"I think she can figure it out on her own, Isaac," Nicole piped up from the back. Both Isaac and Ellie faced her.

"He's just trying to help," Ellie assured her, narrowing her eyes a little bit at the Senior Medical Officer. _In other words, relax, _she added as a silent afterthought, _He's not trying to get close or anything._

"Really, that's all," Isaac agreed, "She didn't read the instruction manual, so I'm just quickly showing her. Besides, I told you, Hammond, and Kendra the controls quickly, too!" Nicole shut her mouth and frowned. It wasn't so much the explaining the controls that was setting her off: it was Isaac's close proximity to Ellie. _It's nothing, _she thought, _They said it themselves. It's nothing._

"Remember how kickass Nicole was at the asteroid level in the first game?" Hammond said to the other old timers in order to alleviate the slight tension, "And then when I killed the Brute that killed my game character?"

"And me with the Zero-G Basketball mini game!" Kendra added, smiling proudly.

"It will be interesting to see someone other than Isaac play for once," Daina agreed, "This should be interesting."

"I'm sure Ellie can handle it," Tiedemann said, and everyone watched as Ellie practiced the controls a little bit before guiding game-Isaac into a zero-g environment.

She used Kinesis in order to attach a thruster to the gate up ahead, and once that was taken care of, she shot it, causing the door to open into the processing plant itself. She slowly guided game-Isaac through there, breaking open all the floating boxes in order to collect the useful items in them. "This isn't so bad," she commented, "I don't see why you're always fussing about the game."

A minute later, however, she realized exactly what the fuss was about. Just as she flew over to a set of spiraling columns, an alarm rang and they began to spin. "_Shit!_" she cursed.

"You jinxed it!" Nicole cried, pointing at the screen.

"We seem to have a penchant for doing that, don't we?" Kyne added.

"Oh, _no_," Tiedemann groaned, "Guess who did that?"

"Who?" Mercer asked. But the next video long answered his question.

"_Clarke,_" game-Tiedemann began, "_There you are. I see your friend has powered off the facility. Remind me to thank her for providing me with your location. I've locked the processing cycle on, and you in with it. It ends here._"

"_It doesn't have to be this way, Tiedemann!_" game-Isaac snapped.

"_It does, and it is. Goodbye, Clarke._" He disappeared.

"Sheesh, Tiedemann," Isaac piped up, "Give me a break over here!"

"If I knew someone was stuck in a processing plant like that, I wouldn't turn it on," the flesh and blood Tiedemann assured him, "I'm not that psychotic."

"Too bad you had to start playing at this part, Ellie," Kendra said.

"I guess I'll have to use Stasis to get through here," Ellie decided. With that, she checked to make sure her Stasis meter was full before using it in order to slow down two of the columns closest to her and another in the distance. Once they were slowed down, she cautiously made her way through them before the Stasis could wear off and give her an instant kill. Once she made it to the other side, she spotted some Lurkers, which she dealt with as quickly as possible, though she was very clumsy with the controls at first.

"Ellie?" Isaac asked.

"I'm okay," the pilot said, reloading the Plasma Cutter quickly before refilling her Stasis and collecting more loose items.

"_Ellie?_" game-Isaac asked, "_Can't you shut these things off?_"

"_No!_" game-Ellie replied, "_Somehow, Tiedemann declared me dead in the system. Now my codes don't work anymore!_"

"_You're kidding!_"

"I'm afraid not," the real Tiedemann spoke up.

"_Oh, shit. Something's coming! Stross, help me with the door!_"

"_I need you to see him. I need you to follow the steps!_"

"_What? No! Just shut up and help me, God damn it! AHH!_"

"_Ellie? Ellie!_" game-Isaac shouted.

"Who do you need me to see, Stross?" Ellie asked as she made her way over to the next set of columns that needed to be slowed down.

"No idea," Stross whispered, sighing, "Guess I'm going insane in the game now, too." Daina just shook her head and decided not to comment on that.

For the next few minutes, everyone watched in silence as Ellie played the game in Isaac's place, taking out all the Lurkers in the area, as well as the Nest that was right after that. "This part's not as tough as I thought it would be," she commented, and Isaac just shook his head as well.

"How are all of you better at this game than me?" he wondered, "First Nicole, then Hammond, then Kendra, and now you, Ellie."

"Because we've got skills," Hammond remarked, laughing a little bit as Isaac gave him the evil eye.

"Aww, is someone jealous?" Ellie joked.

"You wish," Nicole muttered to herself.

Shortly after Ellie made game-Isaac use another thruster to open the door off to the side, she guided him through there as another video log popped up. "_Are you guys okay?_" game-Isaac asked.

"_Not really!_" game-Ellie shouted as she raised her Plasma Cutter in order to shoot at more incoming Necromorphs.

"_Step 3, Ellie!_" game-Stross cried, tugging on game-Ellie's arm.

"_Stross, through the door. Now!_"

"_Hold them off. I think I'm close!_"

"_Move it, Stross!_" After that, both Ellie and Stross's digital selves disappeared.

"Step Three?" Stross questioned from his seat in the back, "What the hell is Step Three?"

"I'm not sure I want to know," Kyne answered for him, "We already know the first two steps. This is quite a mystery."

The others shrugged and continued to watch as Ellie made game-Isaac land back on solid ground and travel through a purple hallway. When she opened the next door, however, she screamed at the sight that greeted her.

"Holy shit!" she cried as a legless Stalker crawled towards her. She fumbled as she used Stasis in order to slow it down.

"Don't get Isaac killed now," Nicole warned her.

"Don't worry," Ellie replied, "Your boyfriend's fine with me." Right after that, the Stalker was down, and Ellie guided game-Isaac into the next room, where her own counterpart pointed her Plasma Cutter at him as he took off his helmet.

"_Whoa, whoa, hey! Hey!_" game-Isaac cried.

"Shit," Tiedemann cursed, "She almost got you there."

"_Oh, God, Isaac_!" game-Ellie gasped, "_Glad to see you've got all your parts!_" She moved to stand close to game-Isaac as she grinned.

"_You all right?_" Isaac's game counterpart asked her gently.

"Aww!" everyone except for Nicole cooed.

Game-Ellie herself looked a little flustered. "_Umm…yeah!_" she replied, "_No thanks to twitchy here!_" She pointed at game-Stross.

"Twitchy?" Stross echoed in disbelief, "You think I'm _twitchy_?"

"You kind of are," Kendra said, "No offense."

"_There are four steps_," Stross's digital self muttered to himself as he sat in a fetal position and rocked back and forth, "_One, two, three, four. Step Four: She'll be waiting._"

"Oh, boy," Mercer spoke up, "Now there are four steps. How many are there going to be?"

"Too many to count," Kyne said to him.

"_Jesus, Stross_," game-Isaac quipped, "_You okay?_" Game-Stross didn't answer, but instead continued to stare at the floor.

"_It's getting worse_," game-Ellie commented.

"_What is step four?_" game-Isaac asked him, "_Who will be waiting?_"

Game-Stross continued to cradle himself on the floor. "_After the screws…after the needle_," he explained, "_She'll be waiting._"

"What…the…_hell_?" everyone gasped at the same time.

"I'm not making any sense, am I?" the real Stross inquired.

The others vigorously shook their heads.

"_He's not going to make it_," game-Isaac said, "_We've got to keep moving_."

Game-Ellie pointed out the window. "_There's an industrial transport upstairs. Runs on the same spoke as the commuter train. It should get us to the government sector. One of us will have to deploy it from the gear house._"

"_Stay here and…uh…try to get him on his feet._" With that, game-Isaac slipped his helmet back on, signaling the end of the cutscene.

"Looks like this is the end of the chapter," Isaac announced, "Do you want to keep playing, Ellie?"

"Of course!" Ellie replied, "I like being at the handlebars."

"I can't wait to see what the next chapter will bring us," Hammond said excitedly.

Nicole just shrugged. "Yeah," she said, "We'll see."


	13. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Writer's Block

Hey, guys. I'm sorry for not updating this story in a while. I've hit some serious writer's block with it and I haven't been able to come up with any new ideas or jokes.

THEREFORE…get ready for it…

I'm taking requests on things you want to see happen in this story. Anything in particular, just let me know, and I'll see what I can do! You can either leave a review or send me a PM in order to contact me.

Once again, I'm sorry for not updating, and thanks for reading this!

-EcoSeeker247


	14. Chapter Nine: Is This Really Happening?

All right! _Finally_, I'm here with the next chapter of this story! I'm so sorry for the long gap in updating. I hit some writer's block, but I've gotten out of it now, and I'm here with the next chapter! A huge thank you to everyone who sent in their requests for this story! I really appreciate it! Credit goes to Gone Rampant and protector91 for some of the plot points in this chapter. I tweaked some of the ideas around, but I hope you guys like what I did! Thanks again!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p><em> Maybe if Nicole told me why she thinks Ellie and I are flirting, then things would make more sense, <em>Isaac thought to himself as he watched Ellie save at the Save Station and collect a few more items from the lockers around the room his game character was currently in.

"Last chapter for the night," the engineer suggested, "Then we can pick it up again tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan," Hammond yawned, stretching his arms over his head in a catlike motion. Stross closed his eyes a few times, almost as if he was nodding off, before sitting up straight again. Daina eyed him warily again.

"You okay, Stross?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Stross replied, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just anxious about the next chapter."

Tiedemann suddenly sat up straight and clapped his hands, earning a perplexed look from Kendra. "What's got you in a happy mood?" she asked.

"I just got an idea," Tiedemann declared as if a light bulb had just gone off in his head, "Do you have any vodka, Clarke?"

Isaac eyed Kendra's friend. "Yeah," he said, "It's in the refrigerator. Why?"

"Let's play a drinking game," Tiedemann suggested, "Any time Nicole makes an appearance for the remainder of the game, we have to drink."

"What?" Stross whined, "That's silly, not to mention tacky. And what if we don't like to consume alcohol?"

Tiedemann shrugged. "It's open to anyone who wants to play," he replied noncommittally.

"Well, I can't," Ellie told him, "Because I'm still playing. Besides, at the rate we're going, you all are gonna be passed out on the floor by the end of this game."

"We don't know that," Nicole interjected, "I could decide to back off."

"True," Ellie agreed, "But when that'll be is the question."

"I think I'll pass, too," Isaac also spoke up, "Just in case Ellie decides she wants me to take over the controls again."

"I'll play!" Hammond cried.

"Oh, why not?" Kendra said, fixing her ponytail.

"I suppose I'll give it a shot," Stross decided, "No pun intended."

"This should be interesting," Daina said as she, Kyne, and Mercer also volunteered to be a part of Tiedemann's little game. Nicole declined shortly after that.

Ellie paused the game as Isaac went to the kitchen to get a bottle of vodka, followed by some shot glasses from the cabinet next to it. He opened the bottle and handed it to Tiedemann, who poured some of the alcoholic beverage into the shot glasses. He handed one to Kendra, Hammond, Stross, Mercer, Kyne, and Daina before taking one for himself.

"All right," he said, "Ready?"

"I hope so," Nicole replied, "Just be careful with that vodka. Good thing you didn't start this little game earlier."

"I'll try," Tiedemann said, "Thanks, Nicole." Nicole smiled weakly, and they all fell silent as Ellie resumed playing, passing through the door up ahead in order to get to the transport.

"Tell me, Isaac," Daina piped up, "Is it at all strange to see someone else playing as you?"

"Not anymore," Isaac answered, running a hand over his head, "Nicole, Kendra, and Hammond all played the first one, so after Nicole was finished, I got used to it."

"Good going, Nicole," Stross complimented. Nicole allowed herself to beam this time before the familiar screeching from the Leapers brought them all back to attention.

"Get 'em, get 'em!" Tiedemann cheered, setting down his shot glass as Ellie frantically pushed all the buttons in order to get rid of the Necromorphs attacking game-Isaac.

"I'd like to see _you _try and kill them all," Ellie replied as she was forced to clear a quick time event in order to get a Leaper to let go of her. She managed to successfully get past it, finishing off the last of the Necromorphs in the area before reloading all her weapons.

"Not bad, Miss Langford," Kyne complimented, "Not bad. You certainly have mastered the handlebars."

Ellie couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. "Thanks, Kyne," she thanked him before replenishing her health and climbing onto the cargo lift in the corner.

_"We only had two years together, Isaac," _game-Nicole whispered_, "Two years, but they were the best years of my life. I was happy. I had everything I wanted. Until you made me doubt myself._" All ten people sat up straight as Tiedemann grinned from ear to ear.

"HA!" he exclaimed, "There she goes!" He tilted his head back as he downed his drink, followed by Kendra, Hammond, Stross, Daina, Kyne, and Mercer. Stross shivered a little bit before handing his glass to Tiedemann, who proceeded to refill it. He did the same for the others.

"I hope there aren't too many more hallucinations," Kyne said, accepting his refilled glass.

"I hope you all can hold your liquor," Isaac mumbled.

"I heard that, Clarke!" Tiedemann cried, pointing at the engineer, who just stared at him innocently.

Meanwhile, Ellie was guiding game-Isaac across the second floor, switching to the Pulse Rifle in order to take care of a swarm of Crawlers that had appeared. "Are those the Necromorphs that made that woman explode back in the school?" Stross asked.

"Yeah," Ellie answered, curb-stomping some boxes on the floor nearby in the process, "Exploding babies."

"If Alexis saw this…" the scientist started, but didn't finish.

In the game, game-Isaac finished on the catwalk he had been standing on and entered a room up ahead, where a Store greeted him. "Finally!" Isaac cried, "Never thought we would see one of those again."

"Wait, what's this?" Ellie asked, moving Isaac's game character over to an audio log and getting him to pick it up.

"_This is Sorenson, Shift 2! Kaleb, what's going on? Dead bodies are chasing us! Dead bodies I recognize! It's fucking Shift 4!_"

"Kaleb!" everyone cried, but quieted down to hear the rest of the audio log.

"_Just get out of there Sorenson, get out of there!_"

"_But we're trapped, they're closing in all around, which way did you go? Which way is clear?_"

"_Use the starboard catwalks, we cleared a path, but hurry, they're closing in behind!_"

_ "We'll try, wait for us!" _That was where the message stopped.

"I really have to invite him over one day," Ellie commented, "He has to see this!"

_Knock knock knock! _

Everyone jumped slightly as Ellie paused the game. "Was that the front door?" Daina questioned.

"Sounded like it," Isaac answered, getting up, "I've got it." He stepped over Stross before he approached the front door and opened it. The faces on the other side shocked him.

"Oh my God!" he petitioned.

"Hey, Clarke," Jacob Temple greeted, "Long time no see."

"Temple!" Isaac gasped, "Elizabeth! Didn't think I'd see you guys back! What are you doing here?"

"We heard rumors that you guys were playing _Dead Space 2 _and wanted to see if they were true," Temple explained, "I know we said we weren't gonna come back, but it was like something was _compelling _us to return, you know?"

"I guess so," Isaac muttered, "Come in! We've got a pretty crowded room. We've made some new friends this time around."

"You know who isn't here, right?" Elizabeth whispered, and Isaac realized she was talking about Mercer.

"Yeah, he's here," he told her, "Don't worry, he's much better this time."

"Better be," Temple growled, clenching his fist, "Or I'll blacken his other eye."

"Oh no, that's not necessary!" Isaac insisted. Temple and Elizabeth entered the room, and everyone stopped what he or she was doing in order to stare at them.

"Jacob!" Kendra gasped, "Elizabeth! Good to see you guys again!"

"Hey!" Hammond shouted, "Welcome back!"

"You guys are here!" Nicole added.

"It's good to see you two in good health," Kyne piped up. Only Mercer didn't have anything to say, except covering his other eye in response. Temple laughed.

"Relax," he said, "I'm not here to fight you again. You're not worth my time." Mercer just rolled his eyes.

"Daina, Stross, Tiedemann, Ellie," Isaac cut in, "This is Jacob Temple and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Cross. They're both with CEC. You may have seen them around, Ellie."

"I have in passing," Ellie retorted, "But it's nice to meet you formally."

"Were you both in the first game?" Stross asked as Temple and Elizabeth sat near Kendra, Hammond, and Tiedemann.

"We were," Elizabeth confirmed, glancing at Mercer, "But then we were both killed."

"Trust me when I say this," Kendra piped up, taking Stross's hand, "We do _not _need to revisit that."

"Why not?" Daina asked, looking confused.

"Later," Mercer insisted.

"Do you guys want to play our drinking game?" Tiedemann asked, "We have to drink whenever there's a hallucination of Nicole."

"Why?" Temple asked, "What's been happening in this game?"

Isaac explained everything that had happened up to this point in the game and watched as Temple and Elizabeth widened their eyes and gasped at the appropriate times.

"That's so fucked up," Temple finally commented, "But it must be a good game."

"Oh, and another thing," Kyne added, "We're not doing the complaint list this time. We've decided to retire it for the time being."

"Unfortunately," Mercer said to himself as Temple accepted a shot glass from Tiedemann. The former just rolled his eyes as Ellie unpaused the game and continued onward.

* * *

><p>"Oh, shit!" Stross cursed, "Oh, <em>shit<em>, what the fuck is that?"

He was referring to the Divider that was now storming towards game-Isaac.

"What happened to its signature moan that was like _The Thing_?" Kendra asked, hugging her knees, "They completely cut it out of this game!"

"Maybe it was _too scary _for some players," Temple answered, miming quotation marks with his fingers, "Seems like they took a lot of the _scare _out of this game from what you guys said." Everyone else shrugged.

"What do you four think of this series so far?" Elizabeth asked, nodding at the newcomers.

"It's…definitely been interesting, I can say that much," Daina replied truthfully. Temple only shook his head and turned back to the game, where Ellie was finished dealing with the various Components.

"This is getting to be a workout," the pilot mused, putting the controller down for a second to rest her hands, "But it's a lot of fun."

The others watched as game-Isaac made his way up the elevator on the other side of the room, emerging on the next floor and taking out the Exploders and other Necromorphs in the room. Ellie picked up a Power Node and continued onward into the next dark hallway.

_"Why would I choose the _Ishimura _over you?" _game-Nicole's voice whispered_, "You said I'd regret passing up the chance, that the choice would haunt me forever. It was almost as if you wanted me to leave." _

"Damn," Tiedemann cursed as he and the others downed their second drink.

"Accusatory, much?" Elizabeth commented, raising an eyebrow.

"I have no idea what my character's talking about," Nicole denied, "Isaac would never want me to leave, right?"

"Of course not," Isaac assured her, smiling as his girlfriend decided to scoot a little closer to him. Maybe she was finally starting to realize nothing was going on with him and Ellie.

"Sounds like I encouraged you to go on the _Ishimura _in the first place," the flesh and blood Isaac deduced from the comments, "This was not established in the first game."

"New developments!" Hammond suddenly shouted, holding up his shot glass.

"Yes, Hammond," Kendra laughed.

Once the latest hallucination from game-Nicole was over, Ellie moved game-Isaac forward a little more in order to take out the enemies in the area, including a Guardian by the elevator on the other side. "Not too close, Miss Langford," Kyne warned.

"Terrence," Mercer spoke up in a warning tone, and Kyne backed off.

"Sorry," the Unitologist apologized, "I know we talked about this…"

Game-Isaac picked up one of the canisters in the hallway to his left and used it to kill the Guardian in one hit. "Oh, I always hated those Guardians!" Temple cried, shivering. Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder.

"You and me both, Jacob," she agreed.

There was also another audio log, which Ellie picked up so that everybody could listen.

"_This is Sorenson to any remaining CEC personnel. Track towards Ellie Langford's RIG. Her group is farthest ahead and has cleared a path, but it's closing off fast._"

"Oh, Ellie, it's your story!" Elizabeth realized, gasping.

"Yeah, this is explaining why she doesn't trust anyone," Nicole spoke up, staring at the pilot before directing her attention back to the game.

"You don't seem to trust her yourself," Temple whispered out of the Senior Medical Officer's earshot.

"Drink up, guys!" Tiedemann announced, "I hear another appearance!"

_"And when you received my final transmission," _game-Nicole hissed_, "You couldn't bear to watch the end, could you? You knew what had happened, yet you went looking for me anyway. You knew deep down, all you would find was death."_

"Ooo," everyone cooed at the same time.

"She got you with that one," Daina said.

"What _is _it with all this aggression, though, Miss Brennan?" Kyne asked, scratching his head.

"Don't look at me," Nicole replied, "I have no idea."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Placing all the gears in the appropriate spots later…<strong>_

"And…there!" Ellie announced happily, "All done. Let's get you out of here, Isaac." She guided him over to the control panel, pressing the appropriate buttons as "Objective Complete" flashed in front of her.

_"All right," _game-Isaac announced to game-Ellie_, "I've released the transport. Meet me at the landing." _

_ "We'll be right there_," game-Ellie replied_, "Stross, come on! Come on!_"

"Oh, God, I'm slowing you down, aren't I?" Stross asked with dread, "That's what you said a few chapters ago."

"Maybe," Ellie tried to answer as nicely as possible as she had game-Isaac set up some mines from the Detonator. It was the strangest thing, but she was getting the feeling she was going to be ambushed.

"Damn, Ellie, your instincts are getting better and better with this game," Hammond complimented as two Necromorphs burst through the vents to attack game-Isaac, but got blown up from the mines.

"Thanks, Hammond," Ellie thanked him, "It was all because of the nerd right next to me." She patted Isaac's shoulder as he laughed in response. She hadn't been making fun of him. Everyone knew that.

Once the siege was over, Ellie made game-Isaac get on the transport, where he shut the door. As he did that, the screen flashed orange, and everyone in Tiedemann's drinking game tilted their heads back as they downed another round of shots. "Oh, _no,_" Nicole groaned, face-palming herself.

_"Why did you come looking for me if you knew I was dead, Isaac?" _game-Nicole hissed as she appeared a few feet away from the digital Isaac_, "Did you think I would forgive you?" _

"Uhh…yeah?" the real Isaac answered instead.

_"Get out of my head!" _game-Isaac snapped_, "You're not Nicole!" _

"Ooo, burn!" Kendra cried as some of the others chuckled.

"I was wondering if you were going to respond," Daina mused, "I know you did back in the chapter with the school, but these messages are more vicious."

Everyone fell silent as game-Nicole calmly approached game-Isaac and then leaned in close to him.

"_WHO AM I, ISAAC?_" she shrieked just as the screen turned orange again.

"_What the fuck?_" everyone yelled, especially Temple and Elizabeth, who had thrown their hands up to block out the sight on the screen.

"_AHH!_" game-Isaac screamed as he returned to reality and just shook his head.

"Holy crap," Temple gasped, "That was scary!"

"You thought that was bad?" Ellie scoffed, overhearing him, "Back in the beginning of the game, she tried to kill him with a needle to the eye!"

"_What?_" Elizabeth cried.

"It's true," Nicole confirmed, "But we realized Isaac was actually trying to kill himself after the fact."

"I lied, then," Temple declared, "This game is still scary."

In the game, the transport stopped in front of game-Ellie and game-Stross, and with the touch of a button, both of them were able to enter the transport. "_Hey, you made it,_" game-Ellie sighed with relief. Game-Stross followed her, still clutching his arm as he widened his eyes.

"_He's staring at me, Isaac_," he whispered, "_Through the holes in his head._"

"Jesus," Stross hissed, "Why does it seem like I'm gradually losing my mind? I'm not crazy."

"_Stross, listen to me,_" game-Isaac tried to say in a calm voice, "_Listen to me._"

Game-Stross ignored him and then suddenly faced the camera, looking directly at the real Ellie. "_Stop staring at me, stop it!_" he snapped as he moved towards the closest bench.

"_Relax, relax!_" game-Isaac shouted.

"Holy shit, Stross," Tiedemann suddenly spoke up, "You just _broke the fourth wall_!"

"Dun, dun, _dun!_" Kendra sang, making everyone break out into laughter to the point where Ellie had to pause the game for a minute to regain herself.

"You're the first character to do that," Daina laughed, patting Stross on the shoulder, "You should be proud!"

"I'm…honored?" Stross asked, unsure of whether or not he should feel flattered.

"It's not a bad thing," Isaac told him, "It makes us feel more part of the game."

"Well, then, I'm glad you all feel that way," Stross sighed, smiling as Ellie stopped laughing and continued to play the game.

"_Isaac, we have to get out of here,_" game-Ellie reminded him.

"_Right. Let's go._" All three of them were quiet as the transport began to descend downwards. Where it was going, nobody knew. Until game-Isaac gasped and opened his mouth again.

"_Oh my God!_" he gasped, "_It can't be!_"

In the real world, Isaac was also gaping at the screen as a familiar planet cracker suddenly entered the picture. "Oh my God!" he echoed, "Do you guys see that?"

"_No way!_" Nicole cried, "Is that…?"

"Yes!" Kyne shouted, "Yes, it is!"

"_Seriously?_" Elizabeth and Kendra shrieked at the same time.

"Strange…" Mercer mumbled.

"I don't believe it!" Hammond added.

"_That's the Ishimura!_"


	15. Chapter Nine: This is It

All right! I'm finally back with the next chapter of "Playing the Game 2"! I'm so sorry for the long wait. There's been a lot going on, but don't worry! I haven't forgotten about this story! Thanks to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story! I really appreciate it! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>Ellie had to actually pause the game so that all the old timers could take in the sight of the <em>USG Ishimura <em>from the first game. Kyne had even dropped his drink, blinking his eyes as if he couldn't believe the sight he was seeing.

"Never thought I'd see that ship again," Isaac commented, "Wasn't it floating near Aegis 7 at the end of the last game? What's it doing here?"

"Maybe Tiedemann found it when he found you?" Daina suggested.

"Don't point fingers at me!" Tiedemann warned, waving his shot glass in the air, "I didn't do a damn thing!"

"Relax, Tiedemann," Kendra chided, "Nobody's blaming you. We just want to know."

Tiedemann pouted, but remained silent all the same. Ellie took that as her cue to resume the game, and they all glued their eyes to the screen as the shocking cutscene continued.

"_Yeah_," game-Ellie sighed, "_Used to be the pride of the CEC. Sad story, actually. I heard everybody on board died. Some sort of terrorist attack._"

"What the fuck?" Isaac gasped, "Terrorist attack?"

"Which idiot came up with _that _idea?" Nicole agreed.

Daina glanced at Tiedemann out of the corner of her eyes, watching as he stared at the bottom of his shot glass.

"_What?_" game-Isaac asked, "_Terrorist attack?_"

Everyone laughed at that.

"I just said that!" the flesh and blood Isaac insisted.

_"What happened on board that ship was no terrorist attack." _

_ "What do you mean?" _

_ "That's where all this started, Ellie. Everything that's happening here happened on that ship. I saw it. I was on board when it…it happened." _

"And now we know the origins of the Necromorphs," Stross spoke up for the first time since this big revelation.

In the game, the transport began to rock back and forth, slowly grinding to a stop. "Of course it wouldn't be smooth sailing," Ellie grumbled.

"_What's happening?_" game-Isaac asked.

"_I…I don't know!_" game-Ellie stammered, "_Something must be blocking the track!_"

"_Stay here_," Isaac's digital counterpart ordered, "_I'll take a look_."

"Of course I will," the real Isaac said, smirking to himself.

"How come I haven't said anything this whole time?" Stross whined, "Just because my character is crazy doesn't mean I can't talk."

"Well, you broke the fourth wall before," Kyne reminded him.

"I know, but I can do more than that."

Ellie guided game-Isaac off the transport, broke open the boxes to collect the items inside, and then saved the game. "Here, Isaac," she said, offering him the controller again, "You can play again if you want. My hands are getting tired."

"You sure?" Isaac asked.

"Positive. Maybe I'll pick it up later on, but for now…"

"Say no more. I understand. I'll play again." Nodding, Ellie handed over the controller and took her place near Kendra, Hammond, Tiedemann, Temple, and Elizabeth as Isaac traded places with her and continued playing. He hit the button to open the door up ahead…and groaned at the sight that greeted him.

"Oh, _no_," he complained, "Not another room full of crates."

"What?" Elizabeth asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"The _worst _Necromorphs in the game are always in a room like this, that's what," the systems engineer explained to her.

"Which would be what?" Temple piped up.

"You'll see," Kendra assured him. First, Isaac collected all the loose items around, including another audio log.

"_I'll leave this for who's left - our crew is chasing us. Our DEAD crew is chasing us. It's just me and Ellie right now. We're not gonna make it._"

"_No, get up Kaleb, just a few more meters!_"

"Come on, Kaleb!" Kyne cheered, "You can do it!"

"_I hear them coming. Don't kill us both Ellie, just run. I'll save you. Just go." _

"Aww," everyone sighed wistfully.

"_No!_" game-Ellie cried, "_Kaleb! Kaleb!_"

There was a faint explosion coming from the audio log, and the adults figured it was a Line Gun mine.

"_This is Kaleb, from shift 1. We lost._"

Everyone sighed in sadness, shocked at Kaleb's fate. No wonder Ellie's game-character was such a hardass.

"That was sweet that he wanted to help you," Kendra commented, putting a sad smile on the real Ellie's face.

Game-Isaac moved forward, hearing the familiar growling of the Stalkers, which made him stop and switch to the Detonator. "What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked as he proceeded to lay down a few mines.

"Stalkers," was all Isaac said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"What's a Stalker?" Temple asked suspiciously.

"Believe me, you'll find out," Hammond whispered to him, "In 3…2…1…"

_Screech! _Suddenly, a Stalker appeared from behind one of the crates, and with its traditional, high-pitched screech, it barreled towards game-Isaac.

"_Whoa, what the hell?_" Temple and Elizabeth shouted at the same time.

"_That_, my friends, is the Stalker," Kyne said, wincing as the Stalker on the screen head-butted game-Isaac and caused him to stumble to the ground.

"What _is _that thing?" Elizabeth cried, "Is that a…_dog?_"

"We don't know what the hell it is," Tiedemann answered, "Looks like a dog and a human. Or maybe a cat."

"Whatever it is, it needs to die," Stross declared. On the screen, game-Isaac stood back up as the Stalker backed away before fleeing.

Temple scoffed. "That's it?" he asked, laughing a little bit.

"That was just the beginning," Nicole assured him.

Indeed, the same Stalker returned, but this time, Isaac used Stasis on it before finally dismembering it. After it collapsed, a second Stalker took its place, shrieking as it raced towards Isaac's digital counterpart.

"Shit, shit, _shit_!" Isaac cursed, hurling more Stasis at it and then finally bringing it down as well. Another explosion rang out, and everyone realized that one of the Stalkers had stepped in the path of some of game-Isaac's mines.

Once that was finished, Isaac spent the rest of the time collecting stray items, from both the floor and the Stalkers. Along the way, a few more Stalkers swooped in for the kill, which the engineer took care of by setting up some more mines as he slowly crept through the maze of boxes.

"Hey, have you seen any Twitchers in this game yet?" Elizabeth asked.

"No," Isaac answered, "They could show up soon, though."

"Twitchers?" Stross stammered.

"You don't want to know what those are," Nicole whispered to him, "Believe me."

"Just think of the reverse effect a Stasis module has, and you have a Twitcher," Hammond told Stross, who shivered at the thought of it.

Pretty soon, game-Isaac managed to clear all the Stalkers out of the room, as well as the Mature Guardian by the door up ahead. "So I see those are back," Temple mused.

"Almost every Necromorph from the first game is back," Kendra explained, "Except the Twitcher."

"Let's hope they don't appear for a long time," Kyne said in a slightly trembling voice.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A few minutes later…<strong>_

"At least we got past the Stalkers," Daina said with relief.

Isaac nodded in agreement, finishing his latest trip to the Store to buy more ammo and health supplies. Right outside the large, circular door up ahead was a Save Station, so the engineer saved his progress before continuing onward.

In the next room, there was a giant tentacle wrapped around a tank, and in the corner was a pile of explosive canisters. "_Ellie!_" game-Isaac cried, "_There's a giant tentacle blocking the transport door. It's wrapped around a giant tank._"

"_A big tank?_" game-Ellie replied, "_Nitrogen trichloride. Those explode if they overheat!_"

"_Perfect_," game-Isaac replied as he began using Kinesis to hurl canisters at the tank. First the tank flashed green, then yellow, and then red. After Isaac threw another canister at the tank, it exploded, and the tentacle uncurled itself and went limp.

"Thank God that's out of the way," Mercer spoke up for the first time in a long time. Isaac figured he was being silent because Temple and his girlfriend were sitting a few feet away from him.

"_That worked,_" game-Ellie said,_ "We're moving again. We'll wait for you up ahead." _

"_All right, I see you. I'll meet you there._" Isaac guided himself onto the elevator and descended to the lower level, where he was greeted with an arena-type setting and another nitrogen trichloride tank in the corner.

"Oh, great," Nicole groaned, "Another one?"

"_Okay, Ellie!_" game-Isaac cried, "_Get ready! One more!_"

"_What? Are you crazy? That one in the middle? If you set that one off, it'll incinerate everything in here!_"

"_Yes, it will. Tell Stross to hold on. Here we go!_"

Everyone in the room held his or her breath as game-Isaac picked up a canister and tossed it towards the tank. The minute it exploded, ominous music began to play in the background as a thumping sound greeted him.

"Oh my God!" Isaac shouted, rotating the camera as he came face to face with a male Tripod, "It's this thing again!"

"Oh, _no_," Ellie groaned, "I hate these Necromorphs."

Game-Isaac hit the Tripod with stasis before shooting the three yellow pods with his Plasma Cutter. With a roar, the Tripod hit the floor and began to flail its last appendage before Isaac shot it and finally managed to stop the Necromorph in its path.

"Yay!" Kendra, Hammond, and Tiedemann cheered as game-Isaac picked up another canister and hit the nitrogen chloride tank with it. Now, the tank was flashing yellow.

"_Look out!_" game-Ellie suddenly cried, "_There's more coming from the holes in the walls!_"

"_No!_" everyone groaned at the same time, and Kendra and her friends stopped doing their victory dance.

"You mean I'm gonna have to fight these _and _destroy the tank at the same time?" Isaac asked.

"That's right!" Stross cried, pointing at the screen, "But you can do it, Isaac. We know you can."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Stross," Isaac thanked him in a wry tone as he took the controller again and backed away from the second Tripod. It stomped towards his game character and slashed him across the chest before game-Isaac recovered and used another batch of stasis against it. He switched to the Pulse Rifle in order to bring the Necromorph down, though he was forced to run until he felt like he was cornered at some points.

"Come on, Clarke!" Tiedemann cheered, "Don't let that bastard kill you! Kill him!"

"I'm trying!" Isaac insisted, "It's just hard when you have a bunch of them trying to kill you at once!"

He ran over to the canisters, and he picked another one up and hit the tank, causing the lights on the outside to now flash red.

"All right, come on," Isaac muttered under his breath, "Just a few more hits and we're out of here."

For the time being, nobody knew what to say; everyone was so engrossed by what was going on that they couldn't think of anything to say. Even Tiedemann remained silent, watching as game-Isaac tried not to get killed in the game.

One of the Tripods caught up to him and slashed at him, causing him to scream and stumble. "Oh, no!" Nicole yelled.

"It's okay, he's fine," Ellie assured her, "Though he should probably replenish his health."

_She's got a point, _the flesh and blood Isaac thought as he tapped the button to allow himself to use one of his health packs. He whirled around, making his character side step the next Tripod that fell, curb stomping his body in order to retrieve the Pulse Rounds from there.

Isaac grabbed another canister and used it to blow up the tank, finally getting it to explode for good and clear the rest of the way. "Finally!" Kyne cried.

"I'm glad _that's _over," Elizabeth agreed.

Another Tripod burst out of one of the holes in the wall just as game-Isaac's audio RIG went off. "_This whole place is going to blow!_" game-Ellie screamed through the communicator, "_Get up here fast! Isaac!_"

"You heard the lady!" Hammond interjected, "Go!"

Game-Isaac narrowly missed the Tripod as he staggered towards the elevator and pushed the button to make it ascend back to the top level again. Down below, more of the Tripods that leaped into the arena were incinerated from the continuous blasts.

"Damn, Isaac," Kendra commented, "What _is _it with you and blowing things up? First Aegis 7, then the Tormentor, and now this?"

Isaac shrugged. "I must be a secret pyromaniac," he replied, making Hammond laugh.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" he joked.

"Very funny," Isaac laughed as he finally made it onto the transport with Ellie and Stross's game characters. He collapsed onto the ground and began frantically waving his hand.

"_Ugh!_" he grunted, "_Go, go, go!_" Game-Ellie whirled around and began to pilot the ragtag trio out of the hornet's nest.

"Go, Ellie, go!" Hammond cheered, holding his empty shot glass in the air.

"_Faster, Ellie, faster!_"

"_I can't make it go any faster!_"

"Typical," Daina whispered.

"_Oh God, come on._" Everyone watched as a white light blinded the game characters, forcing game-Stross to cover his eyes and make all the people in Isaac's apartment wonder if they would get out of this alive.

Soon, the light faded and the transport slowed down again. "Oh look, it's Tiedemann," Hammond announced, pointing at the screen as game-Tiedemann appeared in a video log.

"Oh, no, not _you_!" Stross moaned.

"Great," Tiedemann muttered sarcastically.

"_In another situation,_" game-Tiedemann began, "_I might admire your persistence, Mr. Clarke. But this is bigger than you and bigger than the lives of everyone on this station._" Next to him, another EarthGov agent approached him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"_Sir, final preparations for evac are wrapping up,_" he announced. Game-Tiedemann looked away and shook his head.

"Oh sure, just leave us stranded," Stross cracked.

"_It looks like it ends here,_" he said, "_At this point, it's all just…dead weight._"

"Thanks a lot, Tiedemann," Isaac joked, "Nice to know we're dead weight."

"I did _not _say that," the real Tiedemann insisted, holding up his hands.

"_Isaac?_" game-Ellie asked as game-Tiedemann disappeared, "_What does he mean? What did he mean when he said 'dead weight'?_"

Suddenly, the beam from the solar array appeared out of nowhere. "_Tiedemann!_" everyone growled.

"What?" Tiedemann asked innocently, "It's not me! It's my game character!"

"_He's using the beam!_" game-Isaac gasped, "_We have to stop the transport! Now!_"

"_Oh, shit!_" Game-Ellie took control of the transport and quickly stopped it just as the beam passed over the track in front of them. Everyone waited with bated breath for what would happen next.

"_He…he cut the station in half!_" game-Ellie cried, "_There's no track to get across on!_"

"Way to go, Tiedemann," Daina commented, smirking.

"Yeah, you're on a roll right now," Hammond laughed, "You're the biggest asshole in the game!"

Game-Isaac then looked out the window. "_Back us up_," he ordered, "_Back us up to that station!_"

"_What? Why?_"

"_Just do it, Ellie! Hurry!_"

"Holy shit," Kendra gasped, "Look at you! Taking charge this time, unlike the first game."

"Yeah, I was a huge doormat in the other one," Isaac agreed, "Not anymore!"

As Ellie's character backed the transport up, the _Ishimura _suddenly came into view, and all the old timers began thinking the same thing. "Aha!" Kyne cried, "I see where this is going!"

"Where is it going?" Stross asked him.

"_The_ _Ishimura_," game-Isaac began, "_If the gravity tethers are still functional, I can-_"

"_You can snare Gov Sec and drag it back?_" game-Ellie finished, "_Isaac, this is ridiculous!_"

"_If I can line up the tracks for a few seconds, you should be able to get the Transport across. Stay ready, and take care of Stross._" He slipped his helmet back on and approached the sliding door.

"_Isaac_, _no!_" game-Ellie growled, "_This is a really bad idea!_"

"_Stick around_," game-Isaac replied, "_I'm full of bad ideas._"

Everyone burst out laughing at game-Isaac's last line. Hammond cracked up until he felt tears in his eyes. "Oh my God!" he chuckled, "Who are you and what have you done with Isaac?"

"Yeah, look at you!" Temple concurred, "You're pretty badass now!"

"I love that he's more of a take charge character now," Nicole said, looking thoughtful.

"I think my character is turning into the old Isaac," Stross piped up, "How come I haven't said anything this whole time? Even if my character's crazy, I still know how to talk!"

"Maybe Ellie sedated you," Hammond volunteered, shrugging.

Everyone watched as game-Isaac stepped off the transport and began heading towards the _Ishimura._ "You guys," Isaac spoke up, "I can't believe we're going back to the ship that started all of this."

"It'll be interesting to see how it's come along since then," Mercer agreed.

Game-Isaac climbed onto a mini tram and took it to another elevator just up ahead, where he ascended to a very familiar location.

"Oh my God!" Kendra gasped, "That's the old Flight Deck!"

"You're right, Miss Daniels," Kyne said next, "That's also where your character killed mine."

Kendra blushed as she looked away.

"So this is the _Ishimura?_" Ellie asked, "Wow. This is cool that we're getting to see it!"

"I'm sorry," Stross interjected, "But I would not be going in there alone."

As Isaac moved himself forward, he got in contact with game-Ellie. "_Ellie, I'm in_," he stammered, "_There should still be a computer in the flight lounge. I…I can check the ship's status from there._"

"That damn computer started the whole thing," Isaac growled, "Right after my character checked it in the first game."

"That's right!" Nicole shouted, "That computer needs to just break down."

"_Are you okay?_" game-Ellie asked, "_You sound a little nervous._"

"_Last time I was here, things didn't go so well._"

Mercer scoffed. "_That's _an understatement," he stated matter of factly.

"_Look, I'll contact you soon._" He hung up and proceeded to enter the Flight Lounge, passing by the door where he had first learned how to open doors in the previous game.

"Isaac, get over here and hack the door pad," Hammond ordered, laughing as he remembered his character saying that.

All the other old timers shared a chuckle while the newcomers just shrugged. They didn't understand the joke.

"All right guys, here's a Save Station," Isaac announced, "Let's take a break and finish this tomorrow. Are you all in?"

"Yeah!" the others shouted.

"Let's do this!" Kendra cried, fist pumping and leaving Isaac to wonder what would happen in the next chapter.


	16. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Long Wait is Almost Over

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**: Hey, guys! I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner. I feel terrible leaving you guys hanging like this, and I just wanted to say that I'll have the next chapter up soon! The reason I haven't updated in a while is because I've been going through a lot recently, and to be honest, I've been feeling kinda down about my situation. Things appear to be looking up now, and the next chapter is in the works! Once again, I'm really sorry and I hope you guys forgive me for the long hiatus!

-EcoSeeker247


	17. Chapter Ten: Memory Lane: Part One

All right! _Finally, _here's the next chapter of "Playing the Game 2"! I'm so, so, SO sorry for the long gap in updating, as well as the shorter chapter than usual. Since there was such a long hiatus, I think you guys deserve an explanation as to why I couldn't update this story. There was a lot of drama going on for the last couple of months, in between getting a lot of work dumped on me and dealing with asshole professors who seem to want to intentionally kill my GPA. It's been a rough couple of months, but things appear to be looking better now, so I was finally able to get this chapter up! I know it's short, but I promise the others won't be this short again, and I also couldn't find a lot to comment on since this is a pretty serious part of the game.

Anyway, rambling aside, thank you so much for being patient with me during all this chaos, and thank you to everyone who's been reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story! You guys are awesome! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p><em>I think we need to take a serious break from Dead Space 2, <em>Isaac thought, rubbing his eyes as he pored over the latest project Matthius had given him. Playing the game every night was starting to make him feel tired, and not even calls from Nicole could get him out of bed in the mornings.

Sitting with the others at lunch hadn't exactly helped matters, either.

"What's wrong, Isaac?" Kendra asked, pushing a cup of coffee across the table towards the engineer.

"I'm starting to feel tired from playing that game every night," Isaac explained, rubbing his temples, "I think we need to take a break."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Hammond conceded, "How about for a few days?"

"Sounds good," Isaac decided, flexing his fingers.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Three days later…<strong>_

"All right, let's continue!" Isaac announced as everyone took his or her usual spots to watch the game.

"Where were we again?" Stross inquired, scratching his head, "It's been so long."

"It's only been three days, Stross," Tiedemann piped up from next to Kendra and Hammond, "And we just reentered the _Ishimura._"

Stross snapped his fingers. "Right!" he cried.

"Ready to do this?" Isaac asked the others.

"Yeah!" everyone else shouted at the same time, feeling excited about this next part of the game.

After a few minutes of loading the game, the screen flashed, showing game-Isaac in the Flight Lounge. He quickly consulted Bread Crumbs to see that he still needed to activate the troublesome computer from the first game.

"I just hope there aren't any Necromorphs this time," Isaac said to the others as he picked up the controller and guided himself over there.

"It doesn't look like it so far," Kyne retorted in a hopeful tone.

"Terrence!" Mercer snapped, "Don't jinx it!"

Nicole quickly knocked on the wooden coffee table next to her and Ellie. "Thanks, Nicole," Isaac thanked his girlfriend, smiling at her as she winked in response.

Isaac pressed the button on his controller in order to activate the computer in the game, and all ten adults watched as the device whirred to life.

_"Gravity and Life Support on reserve power_," a voice announced_, "Primary systems offline. Main centrifuge offline for repairs._"

_ "Damn it," _game-Isaac hissed through his RIG_, "That's what I thought." _

_ "What?" _game-Ellie asked.

_ "The gravity centrifuge is under repair. I'm going to have to go down to Engineering. This should be interesting." _

_ "Is it safe?_"

_ "I don't know how it could be. I'll let you know." _

"Forget Kyne," Nicole decided, "I think _Ellie_ just jinxed it!"

"Very funny," Ellie replied, sticking her tongue out at the Senior Medical Officer.

There was silence for a minute as Isaac returned to the Save Station to save one more time. Perhaps it was the fact that he was new at this game, but he wanted to make sure he saved everything properly and didn't have to repeat certain parts.

"So I guess we'll have to go to the centrifuge from the first game?" Hammond spoke up, "Why the hell are we always fixing that thing?"

Kendra laughed.

"According to Bread Crumbs," Isaac said as he used Bread Crumbs, "I have to go back down the path I took in the first game, when I ran away from that Necromorph that time."

"Like a trip down memory lane," Daina piped up, "Only not so nostalgic this time."

"Got that right," Isaac muttered as he continued onto the infamous elevator from the first game.

"One day, we'll have to show you guys the first game," Elizabeth said to Tiedemann, Ellie, Daina, and Stross.

"I'm not sure I want to see it," Stross quipped, clutching his arm, "It seems like it was gruesome."

Nobody had anything to say to that, but the further along game-Isaac went, the more disturbed everyone became. There was something about revisiting these halls that made all the gamers uneasy, and what the CEC employees, Unitologists, and EarthGov agents didn't know was that it was about to get worse.

Plastic and tape covered the walls, obviously put up to hide what had happened before, and the little bit of dialogue that appeared next made Tiedemann break out into a subtle smile.

_"You can pretend not to be bothered," _game-Nicole hissed_, "But being here rattles you, doesn't it, Isaac? All this plastic and tape covering the scars, trying to hide the blood and bodies so no one will ever know. But you remember what happened, no matter how deeply you try to bury it." _

"Ooo," everyone in the room cooed.

"Burn," Ellie whispered under her breath.

Tiedemann reached for the bottle of vodka and poured himself a shot. "That was pretty vicious of you, Brennan," he commented, "Everyone, drink up."

"We're still playing that game?" Stross asked as he accepted a filled shot glass from Tiedemann.

"If you want to," Tiedemann answered, "I'm still playing, even if the rest of you bowed out."

After a minute, everyone who had been playing the Nicole Hallucination Drinking Game a few days ago decided to start it up again, downing more vodka before refilling their glasses.

"We're gonna be so buzzed by the end of this game," Kendra chuckled as she wiped tears of mirth out of her eyes.

"I can't help it if I want to torment Isaac for some reason," Nicole quipped, shrugging, "For some reason, the game makers wanted to make me evil this time around."

"Aww, I'm sorry you feel that way, Miss Brennan," Kyne apologized. Nicole waved her hand and turned her attention back to the game.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A little while later… <strong>_

"Okay, it's been way too quiet for most of this level," Isaac commented as he passed through a large hallway, where all sorts of construction tools lay around on the floor.

"And you're _complaining_?" Ellie joked, smirking at the systems engineer.

Isaac laughed. "No," he insisted, "I just think it's strange, that's all. There still haven't been any Necromorphs here."

"_Don't jinx it_!" Temple and Mercer shouted at the same time, glaring at each other in the process.

"Stop stealing my words, infidel," Mercer growled.

"Marker Head," Temple muttered under his breath.

"Both of you, shut up!" Elizabeth snapped, "We _don't _need a repeat of your fight from the last time. That was bad enough!"

_Roar! _A familiar roar broke the silence in the game, making everyone face-palm.

"_No!_" they all groaned.

"Great, so there _are _Necromorphs here," Isaac sighed.

"And not just any Necromorphs," Stross added, "Brutes!"

Sure enough, game-Isaac spotted a Brute as it plowed towards him with no intentions to stop.

"Damn," the flesh and blood Isaac cursed, "I thought we would get off scot-free in this level."

"Of course not, Clarke," Tiedemann said, "They'll never make it easy for you."

"Gee, thanks, Tiedemann," Isaac muttered under his breath, "Well, time for me to fight this Brute."

"Go! Go! Go!" his friends cheered as he made game-Isaac switch to the flamethrower in order to take on this next enemy.

"So those enemies are back, huh?" Temple commented, as this was his and Elizabeth's first time seeing these Necromorphs once again.

"Sure are," Isaac piped up as the in-game Brute curled up into a defensive ball, "Still annoying as all hell, but they're back."

"Well, at least we know how to deal with them this time," Elizabeth said encouragingly. The Brute was still curled up in its ball, but it quickly recovered and charged towards game-Isaac, inflicting damage before the latter could use Stasis.

"_AHH!_" game-Isaac screamed, flying backwards a little bit before landing on the ground.

"Ooo," Kyne cooed, wincing a little bit as he looked away from the screen, "That looked painful."

"I'm surprised you're not dead by now, Clarke," Tiedemann commented, "You've taken so much damage throughout this whole game already."

"Let's just be grateful that he isn't," Nicole told him.

Everyone turned his or her attention back to the screen as game-Isaac finished taking the Brute down, as well as other smaller Necromorphs that had found their way into the same area.

"It's almost as if they like to bombard you with enemies in this game," Daina mused.

"The first game was worse," Mercer assured her, "Believe me."

"Oh, I do," the other Unitologist retorted.

Game-Isaac paused to refuel his flamethrower, as well as refill on his Stasis Module and reload any other weapon he had.

"So I think we've learned a very important lesson here," the real Isaac announced to his friends, "Whenever we start to think there are no Necromorphs, we should stop, because there may be a few lurking around here."

"Good point," Stross concurred, sipping some of his drink.

Isaac continued ahead for another minute or two before another roar grabbed his attention. "No," he gasped, "It can't be!"

"There's _another _one?" Kendra yelled just as a second Brute arrived at the scene.

"Looks like it," Hammond answered, "But our favorite engineer will take care of it."

"Damn straight," Stross said as Isaac proceeded to kill the second Brute, collecting the large amount of credits from its body afterwards.

"Well, you took on that Brute like a boss," Tiedemann commented, "I can't imagine my game character is too thrilled with you right now."

"Probably not," Isaac agreed, guiding his game-character over to another control panel so that he could hack it.

_"Okay, no, Ellie," _game-Isaac reported to game-Ellie_, "It's not safe. But I'm on my way to the centrifuge." _

_ "Just be careful._"

"_I'll call you when it's online." _

"And this time," Isaac spoke up, "The centrifuge better stay fixed."

* * *

><p><em><strong>A little while later…<strong>_

Getting to the centrifuge seemed to take a while, but Isaac managed to get there after retracing his steps from the first game. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the tram station and a corresponding tram.

"Thank God," Kendra said, "I hated those stations anyway."

"Aww, why?" Kyne questioned, "They were the safest places in the game!"

"And _that's _why. It was always bad leaving them to go through all the levels. The stations were the only places where you wouldn't get attacked by Necromorphs."

"Good point."

"This is crazy how we're taking the exact same path from the first game," Hammond was saying to Kendra and Tiedemann, "Freaky, actually."

"Isn't this the point where my game character was missing?" Kendra wondered.

"Yeah," Isaac answered, "Probably off doing something suspicious, now that I think about it."

Kendra glared at him and stuck her tongue out at him.

"_Anyway,_" she said, "Here we are now."

Game-Isaac passed through the familiar round doors just as a voice announced, "_Entering zero-gravity._"

"Well, here it is," Isaac announced to Ellie, Daina, Stross, and Tiedemann, "The centrifuge from the first game."


	18. Chapter Ten: Memory Lane: Part Two

All right! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates on this story, but I haven't forgotten about it! Here's the next chapter of "Playing the Game 2"! Thank you to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story! I appreciate it! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

><p>"Well, here it is," Isaac announced to Ellie, Stross, Daina, and Tiedemann, "The centrifuge from the first game."<p>

"_Ahem,_" Hammond piped up, clearing his throat, "You mean that _death _trap from the first game. This thing almost cut you in half before!"

Isaac smirked. "Thank you, Hammond," he joked, "Anyway, let's see what we've got here."

"No Necromorphs," Kyne pointed out, "That's a good thing."

Everyone else nodded in agreement as Isaac pitched his game counterpart into the air to fly around with zero gravity. He used Kinesis to drag some stray boxes towards him to break them open, gaining more credits and ammo than before.

"Hmm," Isaac hummed as he continued to fly around and noticed some missing pieces from the tower in the middle, "Somehow, a few of these popped out of the machine. _That's _probably why it's not working."

"So you know what to do," Kendra retorted, gesturing to the TV, "Go fix it!"

"Like I've fixed everything else on this ship," Isaac laughed as he continued to use Kinesis to grab all the pieces.

"_Ellie,_" game-Isaac suddenly spoke up, "_The damn cooling core is extended and pieces are everywhere._"

"_Really?_" game-Ellie asked from her end, "_It won't work unless all the cooling tubes are connected._" The flesh and blood Ellie beamed.

"I work with those all the time," she announced to the others.

"_Yeah, I see tube paths on the floating components. I think I can match them up with the right sockets._"

"_You'd better hurry. The Gov Sec is getting further away by the minute_."

"NOOOOO!" almost everyone in the room cried.

"_I know, I'm going as fast as I can. Look, I'll contact you when I'm done._"

"You heard the lady," Tiedemann said, "Get to work!"

"Don't boss my boyfriend around like that," Nicole chided.

"Well, _someone _has to," Tiedemann quipped, shrugging as everyone watched game-Isaac match the floating components with the right sockets. Fortunately, there weren't that many of them, and he soon completed this task. He floated back over to the control panel by the exit and pushed the button, restoring gravity to the room. The centrifuge hissed and creaked as it began to spin on the floor down below.

"You know," Nicole said, "It's hard to picture the centrifuge with sound after the first game."

"At least I don't have to hide in those alcoves down there," Isaac responded, "Well, we're just about finished in this room. Let's get out of here."

After saving his game, Isaac retraced his steps through the circular door up ahead.

"_Oh my God!_" all the old timers gasped as a Drag Tentacle appeared out of nowhere and grabbed game-Isaac.

"Oh, God, not this bastard again!" Isaac yelled, instinctively picking up the controller to try and shoot it.

However, this time was different. "Isaac," Ellie piped up, "It's gone."

Everyone who remembered the first game glanced up at the screen to see it had flashed back to normal.

"It's all right, guys," Kyne assured them, "This time, it really _was _just a cutscene." The others took a deep breath and slowly began to relax as the newcomers just stared at them.

"What _was _that thing?" Stross asked.

"A Drag Tentacle from the first game," Temple answered, "That's why there was a big hole in the wall before."

"Remember the first time we faced it?" Mercer suddenly questioned with a smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah!" Isaac cried, his eyes lighting up, "How could I forget? That was my first game over!"

* * *

><p><em>Isaac shrugged and began to guide himself through the different alcoves, killing the few Necromorphs that tried to take his hiding spots and refilling his oxygen in the process. This part soon had all six of them on the edge of their seats; the centrifuge was spinning much faster now, not giving game-Isaac enough time to run in between alcoves. He somehow managed, however, taking the second elevator back to the main door and finally exiting the vacuum.<em>

_ "Well, that wasn't too bad," Isaac commented as he saved again, "I'm really starting to like this game." He opened the door up ahead as he continued to talk._

_ "I mean, the game play is easy, the storyline is getting better, and-"_

_ "HOLY SHIT!" everyone else cursed in unison, effectively interrupting him._

_ "What?" Isaac asked, and then gasped a second later, "Oh, __shit!__"_

_ Everyone watched as a huge tentacle with a huge, yellow pod appeared out of nowhere and grabbed game-Isaac by the ankle. As this was happening, Isaac started to button mash with the "A" button out of habit, but he soon found out that this wasn't another quick time event. The tentacle slammed him down to the ground and began to drag him away._

_ "Okay," Isaac sighed as he tried to calm himself and everyone else down, "It's just a cutscene. I don't have to do anything." Everyone nodded, and they all watched as the tentacle continued to drag game-Isaac as it growled._

_ "This is the worst cutscene ever!" Kyne gasped, "Why isn't anything happening?"_

_ "Don't worry," Isaac assured him, "Any moment now."_

_ But as more time passed, the closer game-Isaac and the Drag Tentacle got to the hole it had come from. "Are you sure it's just a cutscene?" Hammond asked doubtfully._

_ "Positive," Isaac confirmed. However, Nicole suddenly widened her eyes, as if she had just had an epiphany, and shoved the controller into the engineer's hand._

_ "Isaac!" she yelled, "You __are __supposed to do something! Shoot the yellow pod!"_

_ "What?" Isaac questioned, "Aww, __shit!__"_

_ He managed to land one shot in to the pod, but it was too late, for the Drag Tentacle had dragged game-Isaac far enough where he was fighting to get out of the hole. The six of them watched in mute horror as game-Isaac went limp, got dragged into the hole, and emitted the sound of himself flat lining. In the next second, everything faded to black as blood splattered across the screen. _

* * *

><p>"I felt like such an idiot after that," Isaac said after explaining what happened to Stross, Daina, Ellie, and Tiedemann, "I honestly thought it was just a cutscene."<p>

"We _all _thought that," Nicole piped up in her boyfriend's defense.

"I'm sure a lot of people did," Ellie replied, "It's not the end of the world."

"Yeah, but I was hoping to have a no-death run the whole time," Isaac explained as he continued on, killing more Necromorphs that stood in his game character's path. After getting locked in the same quarantine room from the first game, he turned the corner until he arrived at a Bench, where he decided to upgrade his RIG and a few of his weapons.

"Well, it's only natural that you would be killed many times during your first run through the game," Daina retorted, but she trailed off as game-Isaac's RIG went off.

"_Isaac,_" game-Ellie whispered into it, "_Stross is starting to worry me. Listen…_"

"Oh, _God,_" Stross groaned, face-palming himself as everyone shot him a worried glance.

"_…I would never. I would never,_" game-Stross was mumbling, "_But son, Daddy's not a murderer! I would never hurt you and Mommy!_"

"Of course I'm not a murderer!" Stross cried incredulously.

"Shh!" the others shushed him so they could hear the rest of the dialogue.

"_Stross!_" game-Ellie cried, "_He's not real-" _

_ "Yes, he is! You can't see him because you haven't taken the steps! The needle will make you see! Step Three! Step Three!_"

"There's a Step Three?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

"What's Step Three?" Temple added, raising an eyebrow.

"_Stross," _game-Ellie repeated, "_Put down the screwdriver. AHH!_"

"_Stross!_" game-Isaac shouted, "_Ellie? Shit!_"

Isaac paused the game as soon as the conversation was finished, and everyone in the room glanced at each other before shouting the same thing.

"_What…the…hell?_"

"A screwdriver? A _screwdriver_?" Nicole gasped.

"No way!" Kendra and Elizabeth cried, "That's insane!"

"Where and when the hell did your character get a screwdriver?" Ellie asked Stross.

"I don't know," Tiedemann answered before the real Stross could, "But someone better get that screwdriver away from him before he does something stupid."

* * *

><p><em><strong>A little while later… <strong>_

"At least the tram's working, thank God," Isaac said as he let his game character board the tram.

"These used to be the places where chapters would begin and end," Kyne explained to their new friends.

The four of them nodded, and they watched the quasi-cutscene while the tram traveled on its way.

"_Aww, Isaac,_" game-Ellie groaned, "_Damn it, that hurts. The bastard bit me!_"

"Holy shit, Stross!" Hammond gasped as the flesh and blood Stross remained silent.

"_What?_" game-Isaac asked, "_Oh, shit. Are you okay?_"

"_Yeah, I'm fine. But he's stopped talking and he won't look at me. How's it going on your end? And please tell me this plan's going to work!_"

"_I'm almost there. I'm heading to the Bridge now to activate the gravity tethers._"

"_Well, good. They're swarming in through a hole in the Medical Deck. At least you won't have to go through there._"

"Yeah, thank God," the real Ellie echoed as an automated message began to play.

"_Unexpected obstruction ahead. Shutting down. Welcome to the Medical Deck._"

"NOOOOOO!" everyone cried again.

"Damn you, Langford," Tiedemann cursed, "You jinxed it."

Ellie shrugged. "Not my fault," was all she said.

"_Crap,_" game-Isaac muttered on the screen as he disembarked from the tram.

"Why do we have to go _here_?" Kendra groaned, "Is this game trying to kill us or what?"

"Of course it is," Isaac said as he began picking up scattered items.

"_The Ishimura Medical Deck, Isaac,_" game-Nicole suddenly whispered as everyone in Tiedemann's drinking game downed another round of shots, "_These were my last hours. Frightened…cold…alone. Well go on, Isaac. Don't be shy._"

"Please don't tell me I'm gonna be taunting him the whole time he's here," Nicole pleaded.

"I think you are," Tiedemann said, "This _was _your main deck."

Nicole shook her head as she watched her boyfriend progress through the game. These halls were familiar as well, even though most of them were bathed in a fluorescent blue light with blood appearing green on the walls.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Daina groaned, clutching her stomach. Mercer just patted her shoulder.

Isaac turned again and gasped at what he saw. "Hey, Mercer," he said, "This is where you had all those frozen Necromorphs. Remember? And the Hunter attacked me here?"

Mercer only shook his head as he closed his eyes. "Let's not get into that again," he suggested.

"Nutcase," Temple hissed under his breath between fake coughs.

Isaac let that comment slide as he reentered the infamous lab where the Hunter had first woken up in the previous game.

"Wasn't there a second Hunter in one of those tubes?" Kyne inquired, "Where did it go?"

"Beats me," Isaac answered just as the screen turned a sepia shade and another hallucination began. In this one, game-Nicole appeared on some monitors to the right.

_"Isaac, it's me_," game-Nicole began_, "I wish I could talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just…talk to someone. It's all falling apart here. I can't believe what's happening! It's strange…such a little thing. In the end, it all comes down to this one…little thing. I didn't want it to end like this. I really wanted to see you again, just once. I loved you. I've always loved you._" The old timers didn't have to watch the screen to know what was about to happen.

"Is this when…you know…" Stross asked, but didn't finish.

Nicole nodded, and the people playing Tiedemann's drinking game didn't drink any vodka on this one.

"Poor Isaac," Ellie whispered.

* * *

><p>To everyone's surprise, the group didn't have much to say on this part of the game that hadn't already been said. Perhaps it was because it was just like the first game. Ellie, Stross, Daina, and Tiedemann just watched in silence as Isaac took an elevator up to the familiar Imaging Diagnostics Room, encountering a swarm of Necromorphs along the way.<p>

"It's like playing the first _Dead Space _all over again," Kendra commented, "I never thought we'd visit this place again."

"I hope we won't be here for too much longer," Kyne said worriedly.

"I hate how this room is so blue," Nicole added as well.

Down below, there was a small path where electricity was sparking out of control, and once game-Isaac took the elevator down to that level, he found himself being ambushed by a couple of Leapers.

"Kill them! Kill them!" most of the men cheered while the women watched with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Well, there is something good in all this," Isaac mused as he used Kinesis to pull a battery out of the wall, "At least we don't have to use a walkthrough like the first game."

"You mean for that asteroid?" Hammond asked, "Yeah, thank God. I thought we were gonna be stuck on that part for a long time!"

"We _were_," Kendra reminded him, "For two hours, remember?"

A few of the others chuckled as game-Isaac continued through the path, now that the electricity had stopped.

"The head banging man was right through this hallway," the real Isaac recalled, stopping in front of where a Stasis Recharge used to be in the previous game.

"You mean that man we saw during the recap video in the beginning?" Stross asked.

"The same," Kyne said.

"I think we're about to head back to the station Mercer locked down in the first game," Isaac announced after saving his game at a nearby Save Station.

"_You never found my body, never said goodbye,_" game-Nicole whispered,_ "Was I just stacked in the morgue with the others? Another random casualty? Or did they turn me into one of them? Wearing my bloodied face, stalking the halls looking for more victims..." _

"Oh God," Nicole said as Tiedemann and the others resumed their drinking game, "I don't want to think about it."

"I'm sure you weren't turned into one of them," Ellie assured her.

"I wish the first game _had _allowed me to say goodbye to you, though," Isaac told her as he continued on his way, finally exiting the blood-covered hallways to enter the tram tunnel.

"Looks like you'll have to fly, Iron Clarke," Tiedemann teased as game-Isaac used the zero-g environment to his advantage, flying through the spacious tunnel as he killed the Lurkers on both walls.

"_The barrier between us is wearing thin, Isaac,_" game-Nicole continued to whisper,_ "Behind every tarp... a memory. Behind every door of the passage of time from my life to when I died." _

_ "You're not going to break me," _game-Isaac insisted.

"_Why do you keep insisting these unpleasant memories are somehow my fault? This isn't about the Marker, Isaac. This is about you._"

"But it _is _about the Marker," Temple pointed out, "The Marker's making him relive these memories. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have all this angst."

"Good point," the others agreed as game-Isaac landed, arriving at the Bridge at last. Up ahead was a maze of crates, which made everyone realize what was about to happen.

"Just make sure your Stasis is in check," Daina muttered after game-Isaac was almost mowed down by a Stalker.

"I thought we were done with these Necromorphs," Isaac replied as he plowed his way through the crates.

"Evidently not," Tiedemann said.

"Hey, what's that up ahead?" Stross suddenly piped up, pointing at a clearing in the distance.

Isaac pointed the controller in that direction as the screen turned sepia again. Up ahead, something began to break the door down from the opposite side.

"What's that?" Ellie asked.

But as soon as the door broke down, the hallucination was over. "That was the first time we encountered a Brute," Kyne explained to Ellie, "In the first game."

"And Hammond gave some pretty helpful advice to shoot the Brutes in the back," Isaac added.

"Not like it helped my character in the end," Hammond mumbled.

Isaac shrugged and continued towards the elevator in the center of the room, which he used to descend into the Captain's Nest from the previous game.

"_Ellie?_" he began, activating a video log, "_I'm almost to the Captain's Nest to activate the tethers._"

"_All right,_" game-Ellie replied, glancing through a window, "_The centrifuge looks spooled to full power from here._"

"_Great! Let's hope this works. It'll be tight. You ready?_"

"_All set. I'll wait for your signal._" She hung up.

Everyone in the room held his or her breath as game-Isaac entered the Captain's Nest that game-Hammond had occupied in the prequel. He immediately ran over to the control panel and pushed the "A" button to activate the tethers. Alarms began to ring as the panel counted down to zero in front of him.

"_Gravity tethers engaged," _a voice announced, and all twelve people in the room let out a cheer.

"Yay!" they cried, holding their shot glasses up.

"Thank God!" Daina shouted.

"_You did it!_" game-Ellie cried in joy as she appeared once again, "_Get back here! The tracks are moving!_"

"_No, just go!_" game-Isaac commanded, "_I__'ll use one of the escape pods and meet you there! Now go!_" Game-Ellie nodded and disappeared.

"Go, Isaac, go!" the others cheered just as his audio RIG went off.

"_Clarke, you idiot!_" game-Tiedemann snapped, "_Those gravity tethers will tear the whole moon apart! Cl-_"

"_Time to go!_" game-Isaac interrupted him, hanging up on him in mid-sentence, which made everyone burst out laughing. Some of them whistled, cheered, and clapped their hands.

"_Not funny_," the real Tiedemann growled, sipping some vodka.

"Come on, Tiedemann," Ellie teased, "You've gotta admit it was a _little_ satisfying. You've been harassing him the entire game!"

Tiedemann mumbled something under his breath that the others didn't pick up. On the screen, Isaac directed himself over to one of the escape pods just as the screen changed colors again.

"_Where are you going, Isaac?" _game-Nicole taunted as she appeared in front of him,_ "Do you still think I'm something you can avoid?_"

"_I don't know!_" game-Isaac snapped, "_I don't know what you are, okay?_"

"You're a Marker-induced hallucination that loves to make Clarke feel like shit," Tiedemann piped up as Nicole glared at him.

"Don't blame her," Isaac spoke up, "It's not her fault."

Game-Isaac climbed into the escape pod just as a voice announced, "_Ejection sequence initiated. Launch in 3…2…1…Launch!_"

The pod ejected from the _Ishimura's _bridge, and everyone watched as it accelerated towards Gov Sec.

"_I'm away!_" game-Isaac reported, "_Ellie? Did you make it?_"

"_Isaac!_" game-Ellie shouted, "_We crossed the track, but we're coming in hot!_"

"_I just need you to see what I see, Ellie!_" game-Stross hissed, "_I promise it won't hurt!_"

"_Stross! Put down the screwdriver!_"

"_Stross, no!_" game-Isaac yelled as Ellie's counterpart screamed.

"I'm telling you," Tiedemann spoke up, "Get that screwdriver away from Stross!"

"I'm getting a bad feeling about that, by the way," Kyne said in an ominous voice while game-Isaac looked like he was getting ready to crash land.

"_Proximity warning. Impact detected. Guidance system malfunction._"

"_Fuck,_" game-Isaac cursed.

"_All guidance systems offline._"

"_Oh, shit!_"

"_Brace for impact._"

"Oh, no!" Daina cried.

"I can't watch!" Elizabeth added as she buried her face into Jacob's side.

With a deafening bang, the escape pod game-Isaac was in eventually crashed, knocking him unconscious not unlike the time the _USM Valor _had crashed into the _Ishimura _in the first game.

"Wait," Mercer spoke up, "Something's happening."

_"Isaac? Isaac, are you there?" _

It was game-Nicole, who had appeared on the screen in front of an image of the Marker.

_"You were right, Isaac!" _she exclaimed_, "The Ishimura is a great ship! I'm so lucky to be serving aboard her! You made me stick with it." _

"_You made me stick with it" _echoed a few more times as the camera zoomed in towards game-Nicole's face, and when she looked up, everyone in the room screamed at the sight, which was game-Nicole with light in her eyes and mouth.

"_YOU MADE ME DIE!_"


End file.
